I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2827
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require 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
NOVEMBER 5, 1997
Mr. SCHUMER 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 require
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 cat-
egories.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 1997’’.
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 acknowledg-
ment of payment from the Internal Revenue Service
nor any explanation itemizing how their tax pay-
ments 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 fol-
lows:
(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 Reve-
nue Code of 1986 (relating to miscellaneous provisions)
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 7525. TAXPAYER REQUEST FOR INCOME TAX RE-
CEIPT.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—At the request of any taxpayer
who files an individual income tax return, the Secretary
shall send to such taxpayer an itemized receipt showing
a proportionate allocation (in money terms) of the tax-
payer’s total tax payments among the major expenditure
categories.
‘‘(b) TOTAL TAX PAYMENTS.—For purposes of sub-
section (a), total tax payments of an individual for any
taxable year are—
‘‘(1) the tax imposed by subtitle A for such tax-
able year (as shown on his return), and
‘‘(2) the tax imposed by section 3101 on wages
received during such taxable year.
‘‘(c) 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.—In addition,
the tax receipt shall include selected examples of
more specific expenditure items, either at the budget
function, subfunction, or program, project, or activ-
ity levels, along with any other information deemed
appropriate by the Secretary and the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget to enhance tax-
payer understanding of the Federal budget.
‘‘(d) MANNER AND TIME OF REQUEST.—A request
for a tax receipt as described in subsection (c) shall be
made with respect to any taxable year at the time of filing
the return imposed by chapter 1 for such taxable year.
A receipt shall be made available to a requesting taxpayer
as soon as practicable upon the processing of that tax-
payer’s Federal income tax return by the Internal Revenue
Service.
‘‘(e) USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.—The Internal
Revenue Service is encouraged to utilize modern tech-
nologies such as electronic mail and the Internet to mini-
mize the cost of sending receipts to taxpayers. The Inter-
nal Revenue Service shall establish an interactive program
on its Internet website to allow taxpayers to generate in-
come tax receipts on their own.
‘‘(f) COST.—No charge shall be imposed to cover any
cost associated with the production or distribution of the
tax receipt.
‘‘(g) 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. Taxpayer request for income tax receipt.’’
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
December 31, 1997.
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