I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 335
To provide for the establishment of a commission to review and make rec-
ommendations to Congress on the reform and simplification of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 31, 2001
Mr. DEMINT (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr.
SCHAFFER, and Mr. GOODE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of a commission to review
and make recommendations to Congress on the reform
and simplification of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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 ‘‘National Advisory
Commission on Tax Reform and Simplification Act of
2001’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to establish a commission
to study and report back to Congress recommendations
on simplifying, reforming, or replacing the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is over-
ly complex, imposes significant burdens on individ-
uals, businesses, and the economy, is extremely dif-
ficult for the Internal Revenue Service to administer,
and is in need of fundamental reform and simplifica-
tion.
(2) Many of the problems encountered by tax-
payers in dealing with the Internal Revenue Serv-
ice—especially those arising from misunderstandings
of the Code—could be eliminated or alleviated by
fundamental reform and simplification.
(3) The Internal Revenue Service faces con-
tinual difficulty in administering an overly lengthy,
complex, and confusing tax code.
(4) Taxpayers and tax experts have repeatedly
called for a simplification of the current tax code.
(5) The complexity of the current code places a
significant burden on individual filers, including ex-
tensive record keeping, time requirements to prepare
returns, gaining an understanding of the exemptions
for which they may qualify, and other burdens. This
has forced the majority of taxpayers to turn to tax
professionals to prepare their tax returns.
(6) Congress is continually modifying and cor-
recting the Code, leading to annual uncertainty and
only adding to the patchwork of complexity and con-
fusion.
(7) The Federal Government’s present fiscal
outlook for continuing and sustained budget sur-
pluses provides a unique opportunity for the Con-
gress to consider measures for fundamental reform
and simplification of the tax laws.
(8) Recent efforts to simplify or reform the tax
laws have not been successful due in part to the dif-
ficulty of developing broad-based, nonpartisan sup-
port for proposals to make such changes.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL COMMISSION ON
TAX REFORM AND SIMPLIFICATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purposes of this
Act, there is established within the legislative branch a
National Advisory Commission on Tax Reform and Sim-
plification (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’),
comprised of 15 members. The membership of the Com-
mission shall be as follows:
(1) 3 members appointed by the President, 2
from the executive branch of the Government and 1
from private life.
(2) 4 members appointed by the majority leader
of the Senate, 1 from Members of the Senate and
3 from private life.
(3) 2 members appointed by the minority leader
of the Senate, 1 from Members of the Senate and
1 from private life.
(4) 4 members appointed by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, 1 from Members of the
House of Representatives and 3 from private life.
(5) 2 members appointed by the minority leader
of the House of Representatives, 1 from Members of
the House of Representatives and 1 from private
life.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the President and congressional leadership
should draw from a number of important areas of exper-
tise in composing the Commission, including tax experts
familiar with corporate tax issues, international tax issues,
small business tax issues, and family and individual tax
issues.
(c) APPOINTMENTS.—Appointments to the Commis-
sion shall be made not later than 45 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. RULES OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) QUORUM.—Nine members of the Commission
shall constitute a quorum for conducting the business of
the Commission.
(b) INITIAL MEETING.—If, after 60 days from the
date of the enactment of this Act, 5 or more members
of the Commission have been appointed, members who
have been appointed may meet and select the Chair (or
Co-chairs) who thereafter shall have the authority to begin
the operations of the Commission, including the hiring of
staff.
(c) RULES.—The Commission may adopt such other
rules as it considers appropriate.
(d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commission
shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same
manner in which the original appointment was made. Any
meeting of the Commission or any subcommittee thereof
may be held in executive session to the extent that the
Chair (Co-Chairs, if elected) or a majority of the members
of the Commission or subcommittee determine appro-
priate.
(e) CONTINUATION
OF MEMBERSHIP.—Any indi-
vidual who appointed a member to the Commission by vir-
tue of holding a position described in section 4 ceases to
hold such position before the report of the Commission
is submitted, that member may continue as a member for
not longer than the 30-day period beginning on the date
that such individual ceases to hold such position.
SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the Commission
shall include—
(1) to conduct, for a period of not to exceed 18
months from the date of its first meeting, the review
described in subsection (b); and
(2) to submit to the Congress a report of the
results of such review, including recommendations
for fundamental reform and simplification of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986, as described in section
10.
(b) REVIEW AND ISSUING PROPOSALS.—The Com-
mission shall review and, when applicable, issue proposals
on—
(1) the present structure and provisions of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, especially with re-
spect to—
(A) its impact on the economy (including
the impact on savings, capital formation, capital
investment, and international trade);
(B) its impact on families and the work-
force (including issues relating to distribution
of tax burden and impact on small businesses);
(C) the predictability of the tax code from
year to year;
(D) the compliance cost to taxpayers and
businesses; and
(E) the ability of the Internal Revenue
Service to administer such provisions;
(2) whether tax systems imposed under the laws
of other countries could provide more efficient, sim-
ple, and fair methods of funding the revenue re-
quirements of the Government;
(3) whether the income tax should be replaced
with a tax imposed in a different manner or on a
different base; and
(4) whether the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
can be simplified, absent wholesale restructuring or
replacement thereof.
SEC. 7. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission or, on the au-
thorization of the Commission, any subcommittee or mem-
ber thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out the provi-
sions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at
such times and places, take such testimony, receive such
evidence, and administer such oaths, as the Commission
or such designated subcommittee or designated member
may deem advisable.
(b) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to such
extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropria-
tion Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission
to discharge its duties under this Act.
(c) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES AND OF-
FICES.—
(1) INFORMATION.—The Commission is author-
ized to secure directly from any executive depart-
ment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office,
independent establishment, or instrumentality of the
Government, as well as from any committee or other
office of the legislative branch, such information,
suggestions, estimates, and statistics as it requires
for the purposes of its review and report. Each such
department, bureau, agency, board, commission, of-
fice, establishment, instrumentality, or committee
shall, to the extent not prohibited by law, furnish
such information, suggestions, estimates, and statis-