I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 397 
To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liability and 
to require an ethics inquiry into, and the garnishment of the wages 
of, a Member with Federal tax liability. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 10, 2017 
Mr. CHAFFETZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax 
liability and to require an ethics inquiry into, and the 
garnishment of the wages of, a Member with Federal 
tax liability. 
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 ‘‘Members of Congress 
Tax Accountability Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT 
OF 1978. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102(a) of the Ethics in 
Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9)(A) 
For 
individuals 
described 
in 
section 
101(f)(9), the amount of any delinquent tax liability owed 
to the United States or any State or local government en-
tity. 
‘‘(B) In this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘delinquent tax liability’ means 
any unpaid tax liability which has been assessed and 
with respect to which all judicial and administrative 
remedies have been exhausted, or have lapsed; and 
‘‘(ii) any delinquent tax liability of an entity 
more than 50 percent of the stock of which in the 
case of a corporation (by vote or value), or 50 per-
cent of the capital and profits interest of which in 
the case of an entity other than a corporation, is 
owned directly or indirectly by an individual shall be 
treated as a delinquent tax liability of such indi-
vidual in proportion to such individual’s ownership 
interest in such entity.’’. 
(b) INCLUSION IN REPORT.—Section 102(b)(1)(A) of 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 
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is amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting 
‘‘paragraphs (1) and (9)’’. 
SEC. 3. ETHICS INQUIRY. 
If a Member of Congress reports a delinquent tax li-
ability on the Member’s annual disclosure form required 
under section 102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Government Act 
of 1978 (as added by section 2), the Committee on Ethics 
of the House of Representatives or the Select Committee 
on Ethics of the Senate (as the case may be) shall imme-
diately open an inquiry into the tax delinquency of that 
Member for purposes of— 
(1) determining the total delinquent tax liability 
of the Member; 
(2) determining the reason the Member has in-
curred a delinquent tax liability; 
(3) determining whether the Member has a plan 
to eliminate such delinquent tax liability; and 
(4) determining whether such delinquent tax li-
ability has reflected poorly on Congress. 
SEC. 4. FEDERAL TAX LIABILITY. 
A Member of Congress who discloses a delinquent tax 
liability under section 102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Govern-
ment Act of 1978 (as added by section 2) shall, not later 
than 30 calendar days after filing the form, arrange with 
the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Administrative 
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Officer of the House of Representatives, as appropriate, 
and the Internal Revenue Service to have an appropriate 
amount of the Member’s salary designated to pay the 
taxes owed to the United States within a reasonable time 
period. 
SEC. 5. MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘Member of Congress’’ means 
a Senator or a Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 
Commissioner to, the Congress. 
Æ 
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