II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2450

To prohibit delinquent taxpayers from receiving Federal benefits or

employment, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 22 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 12), 1994

Mr. LAUTENBERG introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To prohibit delinquent taxpayers from receiving Federal

benefits or employment, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Tax Compliance En5 forcement Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) The term ‘‘person’’ includes an individual,

9 partnership, corporation, association, or public or

10 private organization.
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1 (2) The term ‘‘current in payment’’ means a

2 person either has no outstanding Federal tax obliga3 tion owed to the United States Treasury (including

4 any associated interest and penalties), or is in com5 pliance with a payment schedule established by the

6 Internal Revenue Service with respect to an out7 standing Federal tax obligation.

8 (3) The term ‘‘current in filing’’ means a per9 son is in compliance with all filing requirements

10 under sections 6071, 6072, and 6075 of the Internal

11 Revenue Code of 1986.

12 (4) The term ‘‘delinquent taxpayer’’ means any

13 person who is not current in payment or current in

14 filing with respect to any Federal tax obligation (in15 cluding any associated interest and penalties).

16 (5) The term ‘‘Federal benefit’’—

17 (A) means the issuance of any grant, con18 tract, loan, professional license, or commercial

19 license provided by an agency of the United

20 States or as the result of appropriated funds of

21 the United States; and

22 (B) does not include any retirement, wel23 fare, social security, health, disability, veterans,

24 public housing, or other similar benefit, or any
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1 other benefit for which payments or services are

2 required for eligibility.

3 (6) The term ‘‘Federal tax obligation’’ means a

4 tax obligation arising from a tax imposed under the

5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

6 (7) The term ‘‘Commissioner’’ means the Com7 missioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

8 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT OR

9 FEDERAL BENEFITS PROVIDED TO DELIN10 QUENT TAXPAYERS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—No person shall receive any Fed12 eral benefit, nor be hired as an officer or employee of the

13 Government of the United States, if that person is a delin14 quent taxpayer.

15 (b) COVERAGE.—The prohibition in subsection (a)

16 shall apply to any department, agency, or office of the

17 Government of the United States, including—

18 (1) the Legislative Branch of the United States,

19 and

20 (2) the Judicial Branch of the United States.

21 (c) SUBGRANTEES AND SUBCONTRACTORS IN22 CLUDED.—The prohibition in subsection (a) shall apply to

23 any subgrantee or subcontractor, subject to reasonable

24 limitations to be established by the Administrator of the

25 General Services Administration.
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1 (d) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition in subsection (a)

2 may be waived by the appropriate head of the entity de3 scribed in subsection (b), if the waiver is necessary to meet

4 a critical governmental need.

5 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Commissioner shall promul6 gate such regulations as are necessary to carry out this

7 Act.

8 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall be effective

9 on and after the date which is one year after the date

10 of enactment of this Act.

11 SEC. 4. INCREASES IN TAX-RELATED CRIMINAL FINES.

12 (a) ATTEMPT TO EVADE OR DEFEAT TAX.—Section

13 7201 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to

14 attempt to evade or defeat tax) is amended by striking

15 ‘‘$100,000 ($500,000 in the case of a corporation)’’ and

16 inserting ‘‘$325,000 ($750,000 in the case of a corpora17 tion)’’.

18 (b) WILLFUL FAILURE TO FILE RETURN, SUPPLY

19 INFORMATION, OR PAY TAX.—Section 7203 of the Inter20 nal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to willful failure to

21 file return, supply information, or pay tax) is amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘$25,000 ($100,000 in the case

23 of a corporation)’’ in the first sentence and inserting

24 ‘‘$125,000 ($250,000 in the case of a corporation)’’,

25 and
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1 (2) by inserting before the period at the end of

2 the third sentence ‘‘and ‘$325,000 ($750,000 in the

3 case of a corporation)’ for ‘$125,000 ($250,000 in

4 the case of a corporation)’ ’’.

5 (c) FRAUD AND FALSE STATEMENTS.—Section 7206

6 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to fraud

7 and false statements) is amended by striking ‘‘$100,000

8 ($500,000 in the case of a corporation)’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘$325,000 ($750,000 in the case of a corporation)’’.

10 (d) FRAUDULENT RETURNS, STATEMENTS, OR

11 OTHER DOCUMENTS.—Section 7207 of the Internal Reve12 nue Code of 1986 (relating to fraudulent returns state13 ments, or other documents) is amended by striking

14 ‘‘$10,000 ($50,000 in the case of a corporation)’’ both

15 places it appears and inserting ‘‘$125,000 ($250,000 in

16 the case of a corporation)’’.

17 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

18 this section shall apply to offenses committed after the

19 date of the enactment of this Act.

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