I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3059
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the marriage
penalty, to establish a commission to simplify the tax code, to require
the Internal Revenue Service to use alternative dispute resolution, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 13, 1997
Ms. JACKSON-LEE (for herself, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs.
MEEK of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. ROMERO-
BARCELO´, Mr. REYES, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. CUMMINGS, and
Ms. KILPATRICK) 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 eliminate
the marriage penalty, to establish a commission to sim-
plify the tax code, to require the Internal Revenue Serv-
ice to use alternative dispute resolution, and for other
purposes.
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 Justice Act
of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. COMBINED RETURN TO WHICH UNMARRIED RATES
APPLY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part II of sub-
chapter A of chapter 61 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to income tax returns) is amended by in-
serting after section 6013 the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 6013A. COMBINED RETURN WITH SEPARATE RATES.
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—A husband and wife may
make a combined return of income taxes under subtitle
A under which—
‘‘(1) a separate taxable income is determined
for each spouse by applying the rules provided in
this section, and
‘‘(2) the tax imposed by section 1 is the aggre-
gate amount resulting from applying the separate
rates set forth in section 1(c) to each such taxable
income.
‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF INCOME.—For purposes of this
section—
‘‘(1) earned income (within the meaning of sec-
tion 911(d)), and any income received as a pension
or annuity which arises from an employer-employee
relationship, shall be treated as the income of the
spouse who rendered the services, and
‘‘(2) income from property shall be divided be-
tween the spouses in accordance with their respec-
tive ownership rights in such property.
‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF DEDUCTIONS.—For purposes of
this section—
‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sub-
section, the deductions allowed by section 62(a) shall
be allowed to the spouse treated as having the in-
come to which such deductions relate,
‘‘(2) the deduction for retirement savings de-
scribed in paragraph (7) of section 62(a) shall be al-
lowed to the spouse for whose benefit the savings are
maintained,
‘‘(3) the deduction for alimony described in
paragraph (10) of section 62(a) shall be allowed to
the spouse who has the liability to pay the alimony,
‘‘(4) the deduction referred to in paragraph
(16) of section 62(a) (relating to contributions to
medical savings accounts) shall be allowed to the
spouse with respect to whose employment or self-em-
ployment such account relates,
‘‘(5) the deductions allowable by section 151
(relating to personal exemptions) shall be deter-
mined by requiring each spouse to claim 1 personal
exemption and by allocating the personal exemptions
under section 151(c) (relating to dependents) as pro-
vided in paragraph (7) or in such other manner as
the spouses agree,
‘‘(6) section 63 shall be applied as if such
spouses were not married, and
‘‘(7) each spouse’s share of all other deductions
shall be determined by multiplying the aggregate
amount thereof by the fraction—
‘‘(A) the numerator of which is such
spouse’s adjusted gross income, and
‘‘(B) the denominator of which is the com-
bined adjusted gross incomes of the 2 spouses.
Any fraction determined under paragraph (7) shall be
rounded to the nearest percentage point.
‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF CREDITS.—Credits shall be de-
termined (and applied against the joint liability of the cou-
ple for tax) as if the spouses had filed a joint return.
‘‘(e) TREATMENT
AS JOINT RETURN.—Except as
otherwise provided in this section or in the regulations
prescribed hereunder, for purposes of this title (other than
sections 1 and 63(c)) a combined return under this section
shall be treated as a joint return.
‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe
such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to
carry out this section.’’.
(b) UNMARRIED
RATE
MADE
APPLICABLE.—So
much of subsection (c) of section 1 of such Code as pre-
cedes the table is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(c) SEPARATE OR UNMARRIED RETURN RATE.—
There is hereby imposed on the taxable income of every
individual (other than a married individual (as defined in
section 7703) filing a joint return or a separate return,
a surviving spouse as defined in section 2(a), or a head
of household as defined in section 2(b)) a tax determined
in accordance with the following table:’’.
(c) BASIC STANDARD DEDUCTION FOR UNMARRIED
INDIVIDUALS MADE APPLICABLE.—Subparagraph (C) of
section 63(c)(2) of such Code is amended by striking all
that follows the dollar amount and inserting ‘‘in the case
of an individual who is not—
‘‘(i) a married individual filing a joint
return or a separate return,
‘‘(ii) a surviving spouse, or
‘‘(iii) a head of household, or’’.
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for subpart B of part II of subchapter A of chapter 61
of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 6013 the following:
‘‘Sec. 6013A. Combined return with separate rates.’’
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. SIMPLIFICATION OF TAX CODE.
The President shall establish a commission to study
ways to simplify the income tax laws of the United States.
The Commission shall submit a report containing the re-
sults of its study to the President and the Congress within
2 years after the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. USE OF MEDIATION AND ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE
RESOLUTION BY IRS.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall take such steps
as may be necessary to insure that mediation and other
forms of alternative dispute resolution are used to the
maximum extent practicable to resolve disputes between
the Internal Revenue Service and taxpayers.
SEC. 5. TAXPAYER ADVISORY BOARD.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury
shall appoint a Taxpayers Advisory Board composed of or-
dinary taxpayers to advise the Internal Revenue Service
on matters concerning the administration of the income
tax laws.
(b) SPECIFIC
DUTIES.—The Taxpayer Advisory
Board established under subsection (a) shall hold public
meetings in each of the Internal Revenue Service Regions
to listen directly to taxpayer complaints and concerns and
to report those concerns to the Internal Revenue Service.
The Board shall also represent the taxpayer views to the
Internal Revenue Service.
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