I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4206

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the amount

of the aviation excise taxes for any fiscal year shall equal the expenditures from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for the prior fiscal

year, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 26, 1996

Mr. LIGHTFOOT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on the

Budget, Government Reform and Oversight, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide

that the amount of the aviation excise taxes for any

fiscal year shall equal the expenditures from the Airport

and Airway Trust Fund for the prior fiscal year, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. AVIATION TAX REVENUES TO MATCH AIRPORT

2 AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND EXPENDITURES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter C of chap4 ter 33 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to

5 special provisions applicable to taxes on transportation by

6 air) is amended by adding at the end the following new

7 section:

8 ‘‘SEC. 4283. AVIATION TAX REVENUES TO MATCH AIRPORT

9 AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND EXPENDITURES.

10 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided by sub11 section (b), if the aviation tax rates prescribed by the Sec12 retary under this section for any fiscal year are greater

13 than or less than the otherwise applicable rates of the

14 aviation taxes, the rates so prescribed shall apply for such

15 year in lieu of the otherwise applicable rates.

16 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON RATES.—In no event may the

17 Secretary prescribe rates under subsection (a) which are

18 greater than—

19 ‘‘(1) ll per gallon in the case of the tax im20 posed by section 4081(a)(2)(A)(ii) (relating to avia21 tion gasoline),

22 ‘‘(2) ll cents per gallon in the case of the

23 tax imposed by section 4091 (relating to aviation

24 fuel),

25 ‘‘(3) ll percent and ll percent, respec26 tively, of the amount paid in the case of the taxes
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1 imposed by sections 4261 and 4271 (relating to

2 transportation of persons and property by air), other

3 than the tax imposed by section 4261(c), and

4 ‘‘(4) $ll on any amount paid in the case of

5 the tax imposed by section 4261(c) (relating to use

6 of international travel facilities).

7 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF AVIATION TAX RATES.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September

9 1 of each calendar year, the Secretary shall prescribe

10 the aviation tax rates for the fiscal year which be11 gins during such calendar year.

12 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF DETERMINING RATES.—The

13 aviation tax rates prescribed by the Secretary for

14 any fiscal year shall be rates which the Secretary es15 timates will result in aggregate aviation tax revenues

16 during such fiscal year equal to the aggregate avia17 tion expenditures during the preceding fiscal year.

18 Proper adjustments shall be made in the estimate

19 under the preceding sentence to the extent that ag20 gregate aviation tax revenues during any prior fiscal

21 year (beginning after September 30, 1996) were

22 greater than or less than the aggregate aviation ex23 penditures for such prior fiscal year. Such adjust24 ments shall be made consistent with Congressional
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1 Budget Office scoring procedures and shall be reve2 nue neutral.

3 ‘‘(3) PROPORTIONALITY OF RATES MAIN4 TAINED.—Each aviation tax rate prescribed by the

5 Secretary under this section shall be the rate which

6 results in the same proportion of the aggregate avia7 tion tax revenues for the fiscal year as the propor8 tion of the aggregate aviation tax revenues for such

9 fiscal year which would have resulted from the oth10 erwise applicable rate.

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

12 ‘‘(1) AVIATION TAXES.—The term ‘aviation

13 taxes’ means—

14 ‘‘(A) the taxes imposed by subsections (c)

15 and (e) of section 4041,

16 ‘‘(B) the tax imposed by section

17 4081(a)(2)(A)(ii) to the extent attributable to

18 the Airport and Airway Trust Fund financing

19 rate (as defined in section 9502(f)),

20 ‘‘(C) the tax imposed by section 4091 to

21 the extent attributable to the Airport and Air22 way Trust Fund financing rate (as defined in

23 section 9502(f)), and

24 ‘‘(D) the taxes imposed by sections 4261

25 and 4271.
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1 ‘‘(2) AVIATION TAX REVENUES.—The term

2 ‘aviation tax revenues’ means, with respect to any

3 fiscal year, the aggregate amount deposited into the

4 Airport and Airway Trust Fund during such year by

5 reason of section 9502(b), reduced by transfers from

6 such Trust Fund during such year under para7 graphs (2), (3), and (5) of section 9502(d).

8 ‘‘(3) AVIATION EXPENDITURES.—The term

9 ‘aviation expenditures’ means, with respect to any

10 fiscal year, the aggregate budget authority for such

11 year for expenditures from the Airport and Airway

12 Trust Fund, combined with contract authority for

13 such year (to the extent of any limitation on obliga14 tions) for expenditures from the Airport and Airway

15 Trust Fund.’’

16 (b) OTHER AMENDMENTS.—

17 (1) Paragraph (2) of section 9502(b) of such

18 Code is amended by striking ‘‘under section 4081’’

19 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘under section

20 4081 with respect to aviation gasoline (to the extent

21 attributable to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund

22 financing rate);’’.

23 (2) Paragraph (1) of section 9502(f) of such

24 Code is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided in this subsection, the Airport and Airway

3 Trust Fund financing rate is—

4 ‘‘(A) in the case of aviation gasoline sub5 ject to tax under section 4081, 15 cents per

6 gallon (unless otherwise prescribed by the Sec7 retary),

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of fuel used in an aircraft

9 in noncommercial aviation (as defined in section

10 4041(c)(4)), 17.5 cents per gallon (unless oth11 erwise prescribed by the Secretary), and

12 ‘‘(C) in the case of fuel used in an aircraft

13 other than in noncommercial aviation (as so de14 fined), zero.’’

15 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

16 for part III of subchapter C of chapter 33 of such Code

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 4283. Aviation tax revenues to match Airport and Airway

Trust Fund expenditures.’’

18 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ANNUAL RESERVE ACCOUNT

19 IN AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND.

20 Section 9502 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

21 (relating to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund) is

22 amended by adding at the end the following new sub23 section:
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1 ‘‘(g) ESTABLISHMENT OF ANNUAL RESERVE AC2 COUNT.—

3 ‘‘(1) CREATION OF ACCOUNT.—There is estab4 lished in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund a sepa5 rate account to be known as the ‘Annual Reserve

6 Account’ consisting of such amounts as may be

7 transferred or credited to the Annual Reserve Ac8 count as provided in this subsection or section

9 9602(b).

10 ‘‘(2) TRANSFERS TO ANNUAL RESERVE AC11 COUNT.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall trans12 fer to the Annual Reserve Account any portion of

13 the amounts appropriated to the Airport and Airway

14 Trust Fund under subsection (b) which is attrib15 utable to tax rates prescribed under section 4283(a)

16 which are greater than the otherwise applicable rates

17 of the aviation taxes prescribed for the prior fiscal

18 year. For the purposes of the preceding sentence,

19 the term ‘aviation taxes’ has the meaning such term

20 has under section 4283(d)(1).

21 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FROM ANNUAL RESERVE

22 ACCOUNT.—Amounts in the Annual Reserve Account

23 shall be available, as provided by appropriation Acts,

24 for the same purposes as amounts in the Airport
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1 and Airway Trust Fund are available under sub2 section (d).

3 ‘‘(4) BUDGETARY TREATMENT OF ANNUAL RE4 SERVE ACCOUNT.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law except the Line Item Veto Act of 1996,

6 the annual receipts and disbursements of the Annual

7 Reserve Account—

8 ‘‘(A) shall not be counted as new budget

9 authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus

10 for purposes of—

11 ‘‘(i) the budget of the United States

12 Government as submitted by the President,

13 ‘‘(ii) the congressional budget (includ14 ing allocations of budget authority and

15 outlays provided therein), or

16 ‘‘(iii) the Balanced Budget and Emer17 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985; and

18 ‘‘(B) shall be exempt from any general

19 budget limitation imposed by statute on expend20 itures and net lending (budget outlays) of the

21 United States Government.’’

22 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

23 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to fis24 cal years beginning after September 30, 1996.

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