I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1866 

To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liability and 

to require an ethics inquiry into, and the garnishment of the wages 

of, a Member with Federal tax liability. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 12, 2011 

Mr. CHAFFETZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 

Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax 

liability and to require an ethics inquiry into, and the 

garnishment of the wages of, a Member with Federal 

tax liability. 

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 ‘‘Members of Congress 

5 Tax Accountability Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT 

2 OF 1978. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(a) of the Ethics in 

4 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(9)(A) For individuals described in section 

7 101(f)(9), the amount of any delinquent tax liability owed 

8 to the United States or any State or local government en9 tity. 

10 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘delinquent tax li11 ability’ means any tax liability which has been assessed 

12 and with respect to which all judicial and administrative 

13 remedies have been exhausted, or have lapsed.’’. 

14 (b) INCLUSION IN REPORT.—Section 102(b)(1)(A) of 

15 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

16 is amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (9)’’. 

18 SEC. 3. ETHICS INQUIRY. 

19 If a Member of Congress reports a delinquent tax li20 ability on the Member’s annual disclosure form required 

21 under section 102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Government Act 

22 of 1978 (as added by section 2), the appropriate congres23 sional ethics committee shall immediately open an inquiry 

24 into the tax delinquency of that Member for purposes of— 

25 (1) determining the total delinquent tax liability 

26 of the Member; 


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1 (2) determining the reason the Member has in2 curred a delinquent tax liability; 

3 (3) determining whether the Member has a plan 

4 to eliminate such delinquent tax liability; and 

5 (4) determining whether such delinquent tax li6 ability has reflected poorly on Congress. 

7 SEC. 4. FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY. 

8 A Member of Congress who discloses a delinquent tax 

9 liability under section 102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Govern10 ment Act of 1978 (as added by section 2) shall, not later 

11 than 30 calendar days after filing the form, arrange with 

12 the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Administrative 

13 Officer of the House of Representatives, as appropriate, 

14 and the Internal Revenue Service to have the Member’s 

15 salary reduced by an amount appropriate to pay the taxes 

16 owed to the United States within a reasonable time period. 

17 SEC. 5. MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED. 

18 In this Act, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means 

19 a Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 

20 Commissioner to, the Congress. 

Æ 


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