II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 745 

To provide debt and tax transparency to taxpayers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2015 

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

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide debt and tax transparency to taxpayers. 

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 ‘‘National Debt and 

5 Taxation Transparency Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) United States taxpayers work on average al10 most 3 months of every year to pay for the oper11 ations of the Federal Government. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 745 IS

1 (2) United States taxpayers spent on average 

2 20 percent of their total income on Federal taxes in 

3 2014. 

4 (3) In 2014, United States taxpayers spent 

5 more on taxes than on food, clothing, and housing 

6 combined. 

7 (4) The Federal Government spent the equiva8 lent of more than $28,800 per United States house9 hold in 2014, adding $4,000 per household to the 

10 Federal deficit. 

11 (5) The national debt as of January 2015 ex12 ceeds $145,000 per United States household. 

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

14 (1) to bring more transparency to the tax-and15 spend habit of the Federal Government; 

16 (2) to provide for better accountability in the 

17 Federal budget and appropriations process; and 

18 (3) to increase the participation of United 

19 States citizens in their government. 

20 SEC. 3. A TAXPAYER FINANCIAL STATEMENT TO TAX21 PAYERS. 

22 (a) PROVISION OF STATEMENT UPON REQUEST.— 

23 Beginning not later than October 1, 2017, the Secretary 

24 of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall provide 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 745 IS

1 to each eligible individual a ‘‘taxpayer account statement’’ 

2 for such individual. 

3 (b) TAXPAYER ACCOUNT STATEMENT.—The tax4 payer account statement required under subsection (a) 

5 shall include— 

6 (1) a summary of the most recent Financial Re7 port of the United States Government, including the 

8 Statement of Long Term Fiscal Projections; 

9 (2) a calculation by the Secretary of the Treas10 ury of the eligible individual’s share of the total obli11 gations of the Federal Government, including those 

12 incurred in Medicare, Social Security, other civilian 

13 and military retirement benefit programs, publicly14 held debt, and any other liabilities and expenses, as 

15 reported by the most recent Financial Report of the 

16 United States Government; and 

17 (3) a 30-year calculation of the proportional in18 crease in the Federal income tax rates, as estab19 lished under chapter 1 of subtitle A of the Internal 

20 Revenue Code of 1986, necessary to entirely finance 

21 the current fiscal path of the Federal Government, 

22 assuming no changes in current fiscal policy and as23 suming no budget deficit. 

24 (c) ADDITIONAL CALCULATION.—Not later than 5 

25 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Mar 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S745.IS S745

asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 745 IS

1 retary shall also provide an estimate of the marginal tax 

2 rate and the income and payroll tax liability of the indi3 vidual under the assumptions stated under subsection 

4 (b)(6). 

5 (d) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

6 section, the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an individual 

7 who— 

8 (1) has a valid social security number issued by 

9 the Social Security Administration; 

10 (2) received a Form W–2 in the previous tax11 able year; and 

12 (3) has filed a return of tax in any previous 

13 taxable year. 

14 (e) NOTICE.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall, 

15 to the maximum extent practicable, take such steps as are 

16 necessary to assure that eligible individuals are informed 

17 of the availability of the statement required under sub18 section (a). 

19 (f) MANDATORY PROVISION OF INITIAL STATE20 MENTS.—By not later than September 30, 2020, the Sec21 retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall 

22 provide a taxpayer account statement containing the infor23 mation required under subsection (b) to each eligible indi24 vidual for whom a current mailing address can be deter25 mined. The Secretary shall provide with each such stateVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Mar 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S745.IS S745

asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 745 IS

1 ment notice that an updated version of such statement is 

2 available annually upon request. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS