I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4161 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for payments 
to residents of States for which the Federal tax burden exceeds the 
Federal outlays received. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 27, 2017 
Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself and Mr. LANCE) 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 
for payments to residents of States for which the Federal 
tax burden exceeds the Federal outlays received. 
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 ‘‘Return on Investment 
Accountability Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PAYOR STATE CREDIT AMOUNT FOR INDIVIDUALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter B of chapter 65 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 
after section 6427 the following new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 6428. PAYOR STATE CREDIT AMOUNT FOR INDIVID-
UALS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be allowed to the 
taxpayer with respect to each eligible individual as a credit 
against the tax imposed by subtitle A for a taxable year 
an amount equal to the individual payor State amount. 
‘‘(b) INDIVIDUAL PAYOR STATE AMOUNT.—For pur-
poses of this section— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘individual payor 
State amount’ means the amount that is the same 
proportion of the payor State amount as the ratio 
that one bears to all eligible individuals of the State 
for the calendar year preceding the calendar year in 
which the taxable year begins. 
‘‘(2) PAYOR STATE AMOUNT.—The term ‘payor 
State amount’ means the amount equal to the excess 
(if any) of— 
‘‘(A) the Federal tax burden of the State 
for the calendar year preceding the calendar 
year in which the taxable year begins, over 
‘‘(B) the Federal outlays received by the 
State for such preceding calendar year for the 
calendar year preceding the calendar year in 
which the taxable year begins. 
‘‘(3) FEDERAL
TAX
BURDEN
AND
FEDERAL 
OUTLAYS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
calculate the Federal tax burden of each State 
for each calendar year and the Federal outlays 
received by the State for the calendar year. 
‘‘(B) FEDERAL TAX BURDEN.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(i) treat all Federal taxes paid by eli-
gible individuals as a burden on the State 
in which such individual resides; and 
‘‘(ii) treat all Federal taxes paid by a 
legal business entity as a burden on the 
State in which economic activity of such 
entity is performed in the same proportion 
that the economic activity of such entity in 
such State bears to the economic activity 
of such entity in all the States. 
‘‘(C) FEDERAL
OUTLAYS.—For purposes 
of subparagraph (A), a Federal contract award 
shall be treated as a Federal outlay received by 
each State in which performance under the 
award takes place in the same proportion that 
such performance in such State bears to such 
performance in all the States. 
‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible in-
dividual’ means any individual who is— 
‘‘(i) the taxpayer, the spouse of the 
taxpayer, or a dependent of the taxpayer, 
‘‘(ii) a citizen of the United States or 
lawfully present in the United States, and 
‘‘(iii) a resident of the payor State for 
more than half of the taxable year. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘eligible indi-
vidual’ does not include— 
‘‘(i) any individual with respect to 
whom a deduction under section 151 is al-
lowable to another taxpayer for a taxable 
year beginning in the calendar year in 
which the individual’s taxable year begins, 
or 
‘‘(ii) an estate or trust. 
‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF CREDIT.—The credit allowed by 
subsection (a) shall be treated as allowed by subpart C 
of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1. 
‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH ADVANCE REFUNDS OF 
CREDIT.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The amount of credit 
which would (but for this paragraph) be allowable 
under this section shall be reduced (but not below 
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zero) by the aggregate refunds and credits made or 
allowed to the taxpayer under subsection (e). Any 
failure to so reduce the credit shall be treated as 
arising out of a mathematical or clerical error and 
assessed according to section 6213(b)(1). 
‘‘(2) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a refund 
or credit made or allowed under subsection (e) with 
respect to a joint return, half of such refund or cred-
it shall be treated as having been made or allowed 
to each individual filing such return. 
‘‘(e) ADVANCE REFUNDS AND CREDITS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each individual who was 
an eligible individual for a calendar year shall be 
treated as having made a payment against the tax 
imposed by chapter 1 for such first taxable year in 
an amount equal to the advance refund amount for 
such taxable year. 
‘‘(2) ADVANCE
REFUND
AMOUNT.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (1), the advance refund amount 
is the amount that would have been allowed as a 
credit under this section for the taxable year in 
which the calendar year begins (other than sub-
section (d) and this subsection) had applied to such 
taxable year. 
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