I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3784

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for refunds to 

taxpayers of the budget surplus for each year of surplus. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2004

Mr. CANTOR (for himself and Mr. DOOLITTLE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for refunds to taxpayers of the budget surplus for each 

year of surplus.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taxpayer Rebate and 

5 Responsibility Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFUND OF CERTAIN BUDGET SURPLUS AMOUNTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter B of chapter 65 of the 

8 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to abatements, 

9 credits, and refunds) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 6429. REFUND OF BUDGET SURPLUS AMOUNTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each individual who was an eli3 gible individual for such individual’s first taxable year be4 ginning in the calendar year in which a surplus year be5 gins shall be treated as having made a payment against 

6 the tax imposed by chapter 1 for such first taxable year 

7 in an amount equal to the lesser of—

8 ‘‘(1) the taxpayer’s allocable portion of the re9 fund amount for such taxable year, or 

10 ‘‘(2) the taxpayer’s limitation amount for such 

11 taxable year. 

12 ‘‘(b) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—In the case of any 

13 overpayment attributable to this section, the Secretary 

14 shall, subject to the provisions of this title, refund or cred15 it such overpayment as rapidly as possible. 

16 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

17 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 

18 individual’ means any individual other than—

19 ‘‘(A) any estate or trust, 

20 ‘‘(B) any nonresident alien individual, and 

21 ‘‘(C) any individual with respect to whom 

22 a deduction under section 151 is allowable to 

23 another taxpayer for a taxable year beginning 

24 in the calendar year in which the individual’s 

25 taxable year begins. 
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1 ‘‘(2) SURPLUS YEAR.—The term ‘surplus year’ 

2 means a fiscal year for which the Director of the Of3 fice of Management and Budget certifies to the 

4 President and the Congress after the close of such 

5 year that there is a surplus in the budget of the 

6 United States for such fiscal year and the amount 

7 of such surplus, determined without regard to the 

8 income and expenditures of the Federal Old-Age and 

9 Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Dis10 ability Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Hos11 pital Insurance Trust Fund. Such term shall not in12 clude any year if the Secretary determines that the 

13 cost of carrying out this section with respect to such 

14 year would exceed the refund amount for such year. 

15 ‘‘(3) REFUND AMOUNT.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘refund 

17 amount’ means with respect to a surplus year, 

18 the applicable percentage of the amount of the 

19 surplus certified under paragraph (2) for that 

20 year. 

21 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—The 

22 term ‘applicable percentage’ means such per23 centage as the Secretary may determine with 

24 respect to any surplus year, except that such 
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1 percentage shall not be less than 50 percent nor 

2 more than 100 percent. 

3 ‘‘(4) TAXPAYER’S ALLOCABLE PORTION OF THE

4 REFUND AMOUNT.—A taxpayer’s allocable portion of 

5 the refund amount is the portion of the refund 

6 amount determined by the Secretary to be the 

7 amount which bears the same ratio to the tax paid 

8 by the taxpayer under subtitle A for the taxpayer’s 

9 first taxable year beginning in the calendar year in 

10 which the surplus year begins as the total amount 

11 of taxes imposed under subtitle A on all eligible indi12 viduals for such taxable year bears to the total 

13 amount of the refund amount for the surplus year. 

14 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION AMOUNT.—The term ‘limita15 tion amount’ means, with respect to any taxable 

16 year, the excess (if any) of—

17 ‘‘(A) the sum of the regular tax liability 

18 (as defined in section 26(b)) for such taxable 

19 year plus the tax imposed by section 55 for 

20 such taxable year, over 

21 ‘‘(B) the sum of the credits allowable 

22 under part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

23 (other than the credits allowable under subpart 

24 C thereof, relating to refundable credits) for 

25 such taxable year. 
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1 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—

2 ‘‘(1) NO INTEREST.—No interest shall be al3 lowed on any overpayment attributable to this sec4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(2) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a refund 

6 or credit made or allowed under this section with re7 spect to a joint return, half of such refund or credit 

8 shall be treated as having been made or allowed to 

9 each individual filing such return.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

11 for subchapter B of chapter 65 is amended by adding at 

12 the end the following new item:

‘‘6429. Refund of budget surplus amounts.’’.

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act.

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