I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5027

To provide for the establishment of a commission to review and make recommendations to Congress on the reform and simplification of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 27, 2000

Mr. DEMINT (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of a commission to review

and make recommendations to Congress on the reform

and simplification of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

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 ‘‘National Advisory

5 Commission on Tax Reform and Simplification Act of

6 2000’’.

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

8 The purpose of this Act is to establish a commission

9 to study and report back to Congress recommendations
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1 on simplifying, reforming, or replacing the Internal Rev2 enue Code of 1986.

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is over6 ly complex, imposes significant burdens on individ7 uals, businesses, and the economy, is extremely dif8 ficult for the Internal Revenue Service to administer,

9 and is in need of fundamental reform and simplifica10 tion.

11 (2) Many of the problems encountered by tax12 payers in dealing with the Internal Revenue Serv13 ice—especially those arising from misunderstandings

14 of the Code—could be eliminated or alleviated by

15 fundamental reform and simplification.

16 (3) The Internal Revenue Service faces con17 tinual difficulty in administering an overly lengthy,

18 complex, and confusing tax code.

19 (4) Taxpayers and tax experts have repeatedly

20 called for a simplification of the current tax code.

21 (5) The complexity of the current code places a

22 significant burden on individual filers, including ex23 tensive record keeping, time requirements to prepare

24 returns, gaining an understanding of the exemptions

25 for which they may qualify, and other burdens. This
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1 has forced the majority of taxpayers to turn to tax

2 professionals to prepare their tax returns.

3 (6) Congress is continually modifying and cor4 recting the Code, leading to annual uncertainty and

5 only adding to the patchwork of complexity and con6 fusion.

7 (7) The Federal Government’s present fiscal

8 outlook for continuing and sustained budget sur9 pluses provides a unique opportunity for the Con10 gress to consider measures for fundamental reform

11 and simplification of the tax laws.

12 (8) Recent efforts to simplify or reform the tax

13 laws have not been successful due in part to the dif14 ficulty of developing broad-based, nonpartisan sup15 port for proposals to make such changes.

16 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL COMMISSION ON

17 TAX REFORM AND SIMPLIFICATION.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purposes of this

19 Act, there is established within the legislative branch a

20 National Advisory Commission on Tax Reform and Sim21 plification (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’),

22 comprised of 15 members. The membership of the Com23 mission shall be as follows:
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1 (1) 3 members appointed by the President, 2

2 from the executive branch of the Government and 1

3 from private life.

4 (2) 4 members appointed by the majority leader

5 of the Senate, 1 from Members of the Senate and

6 3 from private life.

7 (3) 2 members appointed by the minority leader

8 of the Senate, 1 from Members of the Senate and

9 1 from private life.

10 (4) 4 members appointed by the Speaker of the

11 House of Representatives, 1 from Members of the

12 House of Representatives and 3 from private life.

13 (5) 2 members appointed by the minority leader

14 of the House of Representatives, 1 from Members of

15 the House of Representatives and 1 from private

16 life.

17 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con18 gress that the President and congressional leadership

19 should draw from a number of important areas of exper20 tise in composing the Commission, including tax experts

21 familiar with corporate tax issues, international tax issues,

22 small business tax issues, and family and individual tax

23 issues.
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1 (c) APPOINTMENTS.—Appointments to the Commis2 sion shall be made not later than 45 days after the date

3 of the enactment of this Act.

4 SEC. 5. RULES OF THE COMMISSION.

5 (a) QUORUM.—Nine members of the Commission

6 shall constitute a quorum for conducting the business of

7 the Commission.

8 (b) INITIAL MEETING.—If, after 60 days from the

9 date of the enactment of this Act, 5 or more members

10 of the Commission have been appointed, members who

11 have been appointed may meet and select the Chair (or

12 Co-chairs) who thereafter shall have the authority to begin

13 the operations of the Commission, including the hiring of

14 staff.

15 (c) RULES.—The Commission may adopt such other

16 rules as it considers appropriate.

17 (d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commission

18 shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same

19 manner in which the original appointment was made. Any

20 meeting of the Commission or any subcommittee thereof

21 may be held in executive session to the extent that the

22 Chair (Co-Chairs, if elected) or a majority of the members

23 of the Commission or subcommittee determine appro24 priate.
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1 (e) CONTINUATION OF MEMBERSHIP.—Any indi2 vidual who appointed a member to the Commission by vir3 tue of holding a position described in section 4 ceases to

4 hold such position before the report of the Commission

5 is submitted, that member may continue as a member for

6 not longer than the 30-day period beginning on the date

7 that such individual ceases to hold such position.

8 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the Commission

10 shall include—

11 (1) to conduct, for a period of not to exceed 18

12 months from the date of its first meeting, the review

13 described in subsection (b); and

14 (2) to submit to the Congress a report of the

15 results of such review, including recommendations

16 for fundamental reform and simplification of the In17 ternal Revenue Code of 1986, as described in section

18 10.

19 (b) REVIEW AND ISSUING PROPOSALS.—The Com20 mission shall review and, when applicable, issue proposals

21 on—

22 (1) the present structure and provisions of the

23 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, especially with re24 spect to—
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1 (A) its impact on the economy (including

2 the impact on savings, capital formation, capital

3 investment, and international trade);

4 (B) its impact on families and the work5 force (including issues relating to distribution

6 of tax burden and impact on small businesses);

7 (C) the predictability of the tax code from

8 year to year;

9 (D) the compliance cost to taxpayers and

10 businesses; and

11 (E) the ability of the Internal Revenue

12 Service to administer such provisions;

13 (2) whether tax systems imposed under the laws

14 of other countries could provide more efficient, sim15 ple, and fair methods of funding the revenue re16 quirements of the Government;

17 (3) whether the income tax should be replaced

18 with a tax imposed in a different manner or on a

19 different base; and

20 (4) whether the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

21 can be simplified, absent wholesale restructuring or

22 replacement thereof.

23 SEC. 7. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission or, on the au25 thorization of the Commission, any subcommittee or mem-
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1 ber thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out the provi2 sions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at

3 such times and places, take such testimony, receive such

4 evidence, and administer such oaths, as the Commission

5 or such designated subcommittee or designated member

6 may deem advisable.

7 (b) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to such

8 extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropria9 tion Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission

10 to discharge its duties under this Act.

11 (c) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES AND OF12 FICES.—

13 (1) INFORMATION.—The Commission is author14 ized to secure directly from any executive depart15 ment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office,

16 independent establishment, or instrumentality of the

17 Government, as well as from any committee or other

18 office of the legislative branch, such information,

19 suggestions, estimates, and statistics as it requires

20 for the purposes of its review and report. Each such

21 department, bureau, agency, board, commission, of22 fice, establishment, instrumentality, or committee

23 shall, to the extent not prohibited by law, furnish

24 such information, suggestions, estimates, and statis-
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1 tics directly to the Commission, upon request made

2 by the Chair (Co-chairs, if elected).

3 (2) TREASURY DEPARTMENT.—The Secretary

4 of the Treasury is authorized on a nonreimbursable

5 basis to provide the Commission with administrative

6 services, funds, facilities, staff, and other support

7 services for the performance of the Commission’s

8 functions.

9 (3) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.—

10 The Administrator of General Services shall provide

11 to the Commission on a nonreimbursable basis such

12 administrative support services as the Commission

13 may request.

14 (4) JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION.—The

15 staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation is author16 ized on a nonreimbursable basis to provide the Com17 mission with such legal, economic, or policy analysis,

18 including revenue estimates, as the Commission may

19 request.

20 (5) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—In addition to the as21 sistance set forth in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and

22 (4), departments and agencies of the United States

23 are authorized to provide to the Commission such

24 services, funds, facilities, staff, and other support
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1 services as they may deem advisable and as may be

2 authorized by law.

3 (6) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may

4 use the United States mails in the same manner and

5 under the same conditions as departments and agen6 cies of the United States.

7 (7) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use,

8 and dispose of gifts or donations of services or prop9 erty in carrying out its duties under this Act.

10 SEC. 8. STAFF OF THE COMMISSION.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Chair (Co-Chairs, if elected),

12 in accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commission,

13 may appoint and fix the compensation of a staff director

14 and such other personnel as may be necessary to enable

15 the Commission to carry out its functions without regard

16 to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

17 appointments in the competitive service, and without re18 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III

19 or chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and

20 General Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay

21 fixed under this subsection may exceed the equivalent of

22 that payable to a person occupying a position at level V

23 of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5,

24 United States Code. Any Federal Government employee

25 may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement
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1 from the Commission, and such detailee shall retain the

2 rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employ3 ment without interruption.

4 (b) CONSULTANT SERVICES.—The Commission is au5 thorized to procure the services of experts and consultants

6 in accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States

7 Code, but at rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a per8 son occupying a position at level IV of the Executive

9 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States

10 Code.

11 SEC. 9. COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.

12 (a) COMPENSATION.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), each member of the Commission may be

15 compensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent of

16 the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position

17 at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section

18 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day

19 during which that member is engaged in the actual

20 performance of the duties of the Commission.

21 (2) EXCEPTION.—Members of the Commission

22 who are officers or employees of the United States

23 or Members of Congress shall receive no additional

24 pay on account of their service on the Commission.
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1 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from their

2 homes or regular places of business in the performance

3 of services for the Commission, members of the Commis4 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem

5 in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons em6 ployed intermittently in the Government service are al7 lowed expenses under section 5703(b) of title 5, United

8 States Code.

9 SEC. 10. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION; TERMINATION.

10 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the

11 date of the first meeting of the Commission, the Commis12 sion shall submit a report to the Committee on Ways and

13 Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee

14 on Finance of the Senate. The report of the Commission

15 shall describe the results of its review under section 6(b),

16 shall make such recommendations for fundamental reform

17 and simplification of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

18 as the Commission considers appropriate, and shall de19 scribe the expected impact of such recommendations on

20 the economy and progressivity and general administra21 bility of the tax laws.

22 (b) TERMINATION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, and all the

24 authorities of this Act, shall terminate on the date
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1 which is 90 days after the date on which the report

2 is required to be submitted under subsection (a).

3 (2) CONCLUDING ACTIVITIES.—The Commis4 sion may use the 90-day period referred to in para5 graph (1) for the purposes of concluding its activi6 ties, including providing testimony to committees of

7 Congress concerning its report and disseminating

8 that report.

9 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

10 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

11 necessary for the activities of the Commission. Until such

12 time as funds are specifically appropriated for such activi13 ties, $2,000,000 shall be available from fiscal year 2001

14 funds appropriated to the Department of the Treasury,

15 ‘‘Departmental Offices’’ account, for the activities of the

16 Commission, to remain available until expended.

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