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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 942 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 942

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require the Secretary of 
the Treasury to develop an Internet site where a taxpayer may generate 
 a receipt for an income tax payment which itemizes the portion of the 
 payment which is allocable to various Government spending categories.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 3, 1999

  Mr. Schumer 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 require the Secretary of 
the Treasury to develop an Internet site where a taxpayer may generate 
 a receipt for an income tax payment which itemizes the portion of the 
 payment which is allocable to various Government spending categories.

    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 ``Taxpayer Right-To-Know Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Individual incomes taxes amount to one of the greatest 
        annual expenses for many Americans.
            (2) There is a great deal of uncertainty on the part of 
        taxpayers concerning where and how their income tax dollars are 
        spent.
            (3) Taxpayers do not receive any explanation from the 
        Internal Revenue Service itemizing how their tax payments are 
        spent.
            (4) There presently exists no straightforward way for a 
        taxpayer to determine exactly how much he or she paid for 
        specific governmental activities.
            (5) The failure to provide taxpayers with an itemized 
        listing showing how their tax dollars are spent contributes to 
        a lack of knowledge about the Government and subsequently to a 
        less informed electorate.
            (6) The Internal Revenue Service must update its technology 
        and treat taxpayer information as a strategic asset to improve 
        customer service.
            (7) Taxpayer education by the Internal Revenue Service 
        aimed at showing taxpayers how their tax dollars are spent 
        leads to increased compliance.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To educate individual income tax filers about how much 
        they contribute annually, in actual dollars and cents, to 
        various governmental programs, projects, and activities.
            (2) To improve the public's understanding of the Federal 
        Government.
            (3) To enhance the public's level of satisfaction with the 
        Internal Revenue Service.

SEC. 3. ITEMIZED INCOME TAX RECEIPT.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to miscellaneous provisions) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section:

``SEC. 7525. ITEMIZED INCOME TAX RECEIPT.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than January 1, 2000, the Secretary 
shall establish an interactive program on an Internet website where any 
taxpayer may generate an itemized receipt showing a proportionate 
allocation (in money terms) of the taxpayer's total tax payments among 
the major expenditure categories.
    ``(b) Information Necessary To Generate Receipt.--For purposes of 
generating an itemized receipt under subsection (a), the interactive 
program--
            ``(1) shall only require the imput of the taxpayer's total 
        tax payments, and
            ``(2) shall not require any identifying information 
        relating to the taxpayer.
    ``(c) Total Tax Payments.--For purposes of this section, total tax 
payments of an individual for any taxable year are--
            ``(1) the tax imposed by subtitle A for such taxable year 
        (as shown on his return), and
            ``(2) the tax imposed by section 3101 on wages received 
        during such taxable year.
    ``(d) Content of Tax Receipt.--
            ``(1) Major expenditure categories.--For purposes of 
        subsection (a), the major expenditure categories are:
                    ``(A) National defense.
                    ``(B) International affairs.
                    ``(C) Medicaid.
                    ``(D) Medicare.
                    ``(E) Means-tested entitlements.
                    ``(F) Domestic discretionary.
                    ``(G) Social Security.
                    ``(H) Interest payments.
                    ``(I) All other.
            ``(2) Other items on receipt.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In addition, the tax receipt 
                shall include selected examples of more specific 
                expenditure items, including the items listed in 
                subparagraph (B), either at the budget function, 
                subfunction, or program, project, or activity levels, 
                along with any other information deemed appropriate by 
                the Secretary and the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget to enhance taxpayer understanding 
                of the Federal budget.
                    ``(B) Listed items.--The expenditure items listed 
                in this subparagraph are as follows:
                            ``(i) Public schools funding programs.
                            ``(ii) Student loans and college aid.
                            ``(iii) Low-income housing programs.
                            ``(iv) Food stamp and welfare programs.
                            ``(v) Law enforcement and the Federal 
                        Bureau of Investigation.
                            ``(vi) Infrastructure, including roads, 
                        bridges, and mass transit.
                            ``(vii) Farm subsidies.
                            ``(viii) Congressional Member and staff 
                        salaries.
                            ``(ix) Health research programs.
                            ``(x) Aid to the disabled.
                            ``(xi) Veterans health care and pension 
                        programs.
                            ``(xii) Space programs.
                            ``(xiii) Environmental cleanup programs.
                            ``(xiv) United States embassies.
                            ``(xv) Military salaries.
                            ``(xvi) Foreign aid.
                            ``(xvii) Contributions to the North 
                        Atlantic Treaty Organization.
                            ``(xviii) Secret Service.
                            ``(xix) Amtrak.
                            ``(xx) United States Postal Service.
    ``(e) Cost.--No charge shall be imposed to cover any cost 
associated with the production or distribution of the tax receipt.
    ``(f) Regulations.--The Secretary may prescribe such regulations as 
may be necessary to carry out this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 77 of 
such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

                              ``Sec. 7525. Itemized income tax 
                                        receipt.''.
                                 <all>
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