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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1787 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1787

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose a tax on certain 
                         trading transactions.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 2, 2011

Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Brown of Ohio) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                               on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose a tax on certain 
                         trading transactions.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wall Street Trading and Speculators 
Tax Act''.

SEC. 2. TRANSACTION TAX.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 36 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by inserting after subchapter B the following new subchapter:

              ``Subchapter C--Tax on Trading Transactions

``Sec. 4475. Tax on trading transactions.

``SEC. 4475. TAX ON TRADING TRANSACTIONS.

    ``(a) Imposition of Tax.--There is hereby imposed a tax on each 
covered transaction with respect to any security.
    ``(b) Rate of Tax.--The tax imposed under subsection (a) with 
respect to any covered transaction shall be 0.03 percent of the 
specified base amount with respect to such covered transaction.
    ``(c) Specified Base Amount.--For purposes of this section, the 
term `specified base amount' means--
            ``(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), the fair market 
        value of the security (determined as of the time of the covered 
        transaction), and
            ``(2) in the case of any payment described in subsection 
        (h), the amount of such payment.
    ``(d) Covered Transaction.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`covered transaction' means--
            ``(1) except as provided in paragraph (2), any purchase 
        if--
                    ``(A) such purchase occurs or is cleared on a 
                facility located in the United States, or
                    ``(B) the purchaser or seller is a United States 
                person, and
            ``(2) any transaction with respect to a security described 
        in subparagraph (D), (E), or (F) of subsection (e)(1), if--
                    ``(A) such security is traded or cleared on a 
                facility located in the United States, or
                    ``(B) any party with rights under such security is 
                a United States person.
    ``(e) Security and Other Definitions.--For purposes of this 
section--
            ``(1) In general.--The term `security' means--
                    ``(A) any share of stock in a corporation,
                    ``(B) any partnership or beneficial ownership 
                interest in a partnership or trust,
                    ``(C) any note, bond, debenture, or other evidence 
                of indebtedness,
                    ``(D) any evidence of an interest in, or a 
                derivative financial instrument with respect to, any 
                security or securities described in subparagraph (A), 
                (B), or (C),
                    ``(E) any derivative financial instrument with 
                respect to any currency or commodity, and
                    ``(F) any other derivative financial instrument any 
                payment with respect to which is calculated by 
                reference to any specified index.
            ``(2) Derivative financial instrument.--The term 
        `derivative financial instrument' includes any option, forward 
        contract, futures contract, notional principal contract, or any 
        similar financial instrument.
            ``(3) Specified index.--The term `specified index' means 
        any 1 or more of any combination of--
                    ``(A) a fixed rate, price, or amount, or
                    ``(B) a variable rate, price, or amount,   
        which is based on any current objectively determinable 
        information which is not within the control of any of the 
        parties to the contract or instrument and is not unique to any 
        of the parties' circumstances.
            ``(4) Treatment of exchanges.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An exchange shall be treated as 
                the sale of the property transferred and a purchase of 
                the property received by each party to the exchange.
                    ``(B) Certain deemed exchanges.--In the case of a 
                distribution treated as an exchange for stock under 
                section 302 or 331, the corporation making such 
                distribution shall be treated as having purchased such 
                stock for purposes of this section.
    ``(f) Exceptions.--
            ``(1) Exception for initial issues.--No tax shall be 
        imposed under subsection (a) on any covered transaction with 
        respect to the initial issuance of any security described in 
        subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (e)(1).
            ``(2) Exception for certain traded short-term 
        indebtedness.--A note, bond, debenture, or other evidence of 
        indebtedness which--
                    ``(A) is traded on a trading facility located in 
                the United States, and
                    ``(B) has a fixed maturity of not more than 100 
                days,
        shall not be treated as described in subsection (e)(1)(C).
            ``(3) Exception for securities lending arrangements.--No 
        tax shall be imposed under subsection (a) on any covered 
        transaction with respect to which gain or loss is not 
        recognized by reason of section 1058.
    ``(g) By Whom Paid.--
            ``(1) In general.--The tax imposed by this section shall be 
        paid by--
                    ``(A) in the case of a transaction which occurs or 
                is cleared on a facility located in the United States, 
                such facility, and
                    ``(B) in the case of a purchase not described in 
                subparagraph (A) which is executed by a broker (as 
                defined in section 6045(c)(1)) which is a United States 
                person, such broker.
            ``(2) Special rules for direct, etc., transactions.--In the 
        case of any transaction to which paragraph (1) does not apply, 
        the tax imposed by this section shall be paid by--
                    ``(A) in the case of a transaction described in 
                subsection (d)(1)--
                            ``(i) the purchaser if the purchaser is a 
                        United States person, and
                            ``(ii) the seller if the purchaser is not a 
                        United States person, and
                    ``(B) in the case of a transaction described in 
                subsection (d)(2)--
                            ``(i) the payor if the payor is a United 
                        States person, and
                            ``(ii) the payee if the payor is not a 
                        United States person.
    ``(h) Certain Payments Treated as Separate Transactions.--Except as 
otherwise provided by the Secretary, any payment with respect to a 
security described in subparagraph (D), (E), or (F) of subsection 
(e)(1) shall be treated as a separate transaction for purposes of this 
section, including--
            ``(1) any net initial payment, net final or terminating 
        payment, or net periodical payment with respect to a notional 
        principal contract (or similar financial instrument),
            ``(2) any payment with respect to any forward contract (or 
        similar financial instrument), and
            ``(3) any premium paid with respect to any option (or 
        similar financial instrument).
    ``(i) Administration.--The Secretary shall carry out this section 
in consultation with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
    ``(j) Guidance; Regulations.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) provide guidance regarding such information reporting 
        concerning covered transactions as the Secretary deems 
        appropriate, and
            ``(2) prescribe such regulations as are necessary or 
        appropriate to prevent avoidance of the purposes of this 
        section, including the use of non-United States persons in such 
        transactions.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of subchapters for chapter 36 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to subchapter B the following new item:

``Subchapter C. Tax on trading transactions.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to transactions after December 31, 2012.
                                 <all>
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