I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1153

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that a taxpayer

may request a receipt for an income tax payment which itemizes the

portion of the payment which is allocable to various Government spending

categories.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 17, 1999

Mr. COOK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide

that a taxpayer may request a receipt for an income

tax payment which itemizes the portion of the payment

which is allocable to various Government spending categories.

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 ‘‘Taxpayer Right-To5 Know Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Individual incomes taxes amount to one of

2 the greatest annual expenses for many Americans.

3 (2) There is a great deal of uncertainty on the

4 part of taxpayers concerning where and how their

5 income tax dollars are spent.

6 (3) Taxpayers do not receive any acknowledg7 ment of payment from the Internal Revenue Service

8 nor any explanation itemizing how their tax pay9 ments are spent.

10 (4) There presently exists no straightforward

11 way for a taxpayer to determine exactly how much

12 he or she paid for specific governmental activities.

13 (5) The failure to provide taxpayers with an

14 itemized listing showing how their tax dollars are

15 spent contributes to a lack of knowledge about the

16 Government and subsequently to a less informed

17 electorate.

18 (6) The Internal Revenue Service must update

19 its technology and treat taxpayer information as a

20 strategic asset to improve customer service.

21 (7) Taxpayer education by the Internal Revenue

22 Service aimed at showing taxpayers how their tax

23 dollars are spent leads to increased compliance.

24 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol25 lows:
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1 (1) To educate individual income tax filers

2 about how much they contribute annually, in actual

3 dollars and cents, to various governmental programs,

4 projects, and activities.

5 (2) To improve the public’s understanding of

6 the Federal Government.

7 (3) To enhance the public’s level of satisfaction

8 with the Internal Revenue Service.

9 SEC. 3. ITEMIZED INCOME TAX RECEIPT.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Rev11 enue Code of 1986 (relating to miscellaneous provisions)

12 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

13 ‘‘SEC. 7527. TAXPAYER REQUEST FOR INCOME TAX RE14 CEIPT.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of any taxpayer

16 who files an individual income tax return, the Secretary

17 shall send to such taxpayer an itemized receipt showing

18 a proportionate allocation (in money terms) of the tax19 payer’s total tax payments among the major outlay cat20 egories.

21 ‘‘(b) TOTAL TAX PAYMENTS.—For purposes of sub22 section (a), total tax payments of an individual for any

23 taxable year are—

24 ‘‘(1) the tax imposed by subtitle A for such tax25 able year (as shown on his return), and
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1 ‘‘(2) the tax imposed by section 3101 on wages

2 received during such taxable year.

3 ‘‘(c) CONTENT OF TAX RECEIPT.—

4 ‘‘(1) MAJOR OUTLAY CATEGORIES.—For pur5 poses of subsection (a), the major outlay categories

6 are the categories for which separate percentages of

7 total outlays are required to be set forth by section

8 7523(b).

9 ‘‘(2) OTHER ITEMS ON RECEIPT.—In addition,

10 the tax receipt shall include selected examples of

11 more specific expenditure items, either at the budget

12 function, subfunction, or program, project, or activ13 ity levels, along with any other information deemed

14 appropriate by the Secretary and the Director of the

15 Office of Management and Budget to enhance tax16 payer understanding of the Federal budget.

17 ‘‘(d) MANNER AND TIME OF REQUEST.—A request

18 for a tax receipt as described in subsection (c) shall be

19 made with respect to any taxable year at the time of filing

20 the return imposed by chapter 1 for such taxable year.

21 A receipt shall be made available to a requesting taxpayer

22 as soon as practicable upon the processing of that tax23 payer’s Federal income tax return by the Internal Revenue

24 Service.
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1 ‘‘(e) USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.—The Internal

2 Revenue Service is encouraged to utilize modern tech3 nologies such as electronic mail and the Internet to mini4 mize the cost of sending receipts to taxpayers. The Inter5 nal Revenue Service shall establish an interactive program

6 on its Internet website to allow taxpayers to generate in7 come tax receipts on their own.

8 ‘‘(f) COST.—No charge shall be imposed to cover any

9 cost associated with the production or distribution of the

10 tax receipt.

11 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may prescribe

12 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this

13 section.’’.

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

15 for chapter 77 of such Code is amended by adding at the

16 end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 7527. Taxpayer request for income tax receipt.’’

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

18 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

19 December 31, 1999.

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