[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 24, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Tax Reform

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, last week, Senator Cardin and I 
introduced our S Corporation Modernization Act. That brings the total 
of tax reform bills I have introduced so far this year to six.
  Obviously, 2017 was a banner year for tax reform. In December of 
2017, we passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a historic, comprehensive 
reform of our Tax Code that put more money in American families' 
pockets and helped spur growth at American businesses.
  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been a great success for our economy 
and for hard-working Americans, but there are still things we can do to 
strengthen our Tax Code even further.
  As I mentioned, last week, Senator Cardin and I introduced our S 
Corporation Modernization Act. S corporations are the most common 
formal business structure in the United States. There are nearly 5 
million of these businesses throughout the United States, including 
large numbers in rural America. Despite the popularity of S 
corporations, however, there have been few S corporation-related 
changes to the Tax Code since this business structure was created.
  There are things we can do to make it easier for these businesses to 
operate and raise capital. That is why Senator Cardin and I developed 
the S Corporation Modernization Act. Our legislation makes pro-growth 
reforms that will make it easier for these businesses to grow and 
create new jobs and opportunities in their communities.
  Change is a human constant, but with modern technology, the pace of 
change has seemed to accelerate. American workers and American 
businesses face very different situations than they did even a decade 
ago. It is important that our Tax Code keeps pace with the 21st century 
economy.
  In February, I reintroduced my Mobile Workforce State Income Tax 
Simplification Act along with Senator Sherrod Brown. Today substantial 
numbers of workers travel to different States for temporary work 
assignments on a regular basis, and they end up subject to a 
bewildering variety of State laws governing State income tax.
  Senator Brown's and my legislation would create an across-the-board 
standard for mobile employees who spend a short period of time working 
across State lines. It would ensure that States receive fair tax 
payments while substantially simplifying tax requirements for employees 
and employers.
  In March, I introduced two other bills focused on updating the Tax 
Code for the 21st century economy. The last decade or so has seen the 
rise of the gig economy--services provided by individuals through apps 
and websites like Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit, Postmates, Grubhub, and many 
others. These arrangements have stretched the boundaries of current tax 
law.
  My New Economy Works to Guarantee Independence and Growth Act, or the 
NEW GIG Act, as we call it, updates our tax law to provide clear 
guidance on the classification of this new generation of workers. It 
will ensure that Uber drivers, Postmates, Taskers, and others are 
treated as independent contractors for purposes of tax law if they meet 
a set of objective criteria. The certainty my bill provides will 
benefit not only these workers but also traditional independent 
contractors like freelance writers and delivery drivers.
  I also introduced the Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act in 
March with Senator Wyden. Our legislation is designed to prevent 
consumers from being faced with multiple taxes for downloading digital 
products.
  For example, right now, a digital purchase of a television series 
could hypothetically be taxed in up to three States, depending on the 
circumstances of the purchase. The Digital Goods and Services Tax 
Fairness Act would provide rules of the road for taxing digital goods 
and services and ensure that digital purchases could only be taxed in 
one State--the State in which the consumer resides.
  It would also prohibit States and local governments from taxing 
digital goods at higher rates than tangible goods. In other words, 
under our bill, that season of ``The Office'' that you want to buy 
digitally shouldn't be taxed at a higher rate than if you were 
purchasing the season on DVD.
  We have a proud history of charitable giving in this country. 
Americans care about a lot of worthy causes and are committed to 
helping those in need. That is why I have routinely introduced 
amendments to the Tax Code to make charitable giving easier, several of 
which have been signed into law.
  This year, I again introduced the Charities Helping Americans 
Regularly Throughout the Year Act, or CHARITY Act, with Senator Casey. 
This year's version of our bill builds on some of the provisions we 
succeeded in getting passed over the past few years and will continue 
to help make it easier for Americans to give--and charities to 
receive--money.
  Finally, this year I once again introduced legislation to repeal the 
punitive double--or triple--taxation known as the death tax. I have 
worked a lot on the death tax issue over the years because of the way 
it affects family farms and ranches. The death tax can make it 
difficult or impossible to hand off the family farm or ranch to the 
next generation.
  While we gave farmers and ranchers substantial relief from the death 
tax in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, that relief is only guaranteed for 
6\1/2\ more years, which is why I am committed to passing a permanent 
death tax repeal.
  I am proud of the progress we have made for American businesses and 
American families with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and I will continue 
working on these bills and others to further refine the Tax Code to 
spur economic growth and to address the realities of the 21st century 
economy.