To provide for expedited consideration of a bill providing for comprehensive tax reform.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pathway to Job Creation through a 
Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that the following problems exist 
with the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (in this section referred to as 
the ``tax code''):
            (1) The tax code is unfair, containing hundreds of 
        provisions that only benefit certain special interests, 
        resulting in a system of winners and losers.
            (2) The tax code violates the fundamental principle of 
        equal justice by subjecting families in similar circumstances 
        to significantly different tax bills.
            (3)(A) Many tax preferences, sometimes referred to as ``tax 
        expenditures,'' are similar to government spending--instead of 
        markets directing economic resources to their most efficient 
        uses, the Government directs resources to other uses, creating 
        a drag on economic growth and job creation.
            (B) The exclusions, deductions, credits, and special rules 
        that make up such tax expenditures amount to over $1 trillion 
        per year, nearly matching the total amount of annual revenue 
        that is generated from the income tax itself.
            (C) In some cases, tax subsidies can literally take the 
        form of spending through the tax code, redistributing taxes 
        paid by some Americans to individuals and businesses who do not 
        pay any income taxes at all.
            (4) The failure to adopt a permanent tax code with stable 
        statutory tax policy has created greater economic uncertainty. 
        Tax rates have been scheduled to increase sharply in 3 of the 
        last 5 years, requiring the enactment of repeated temporary 
        extensions. Additionally, approximately 70 other, more targeted 
        tax provisions expired in 2011 or are currently scheduled to 
        expire by the end of 2012.
            (5) Since 2001, there have been nearly 4,500 changes made 
        to the tax code, averaging more than one each day over the past 
        decade.
            (6) The tax code's complexity leads nearly nine out of ten 
        families either to hire tax preparers (60 percent) or purchase 
        software (29 percent) to file their taxes, while 71 percent of 
        unincorporated businesses are forced to pay someone else to 
        prepare their taxes.
            (7) The cost of complying with the tax code is too 
        burdensome, forcing individuals, families, and employers to 
        spend over six billion hours and over $160 billion per year 
        trying to comply with the law and pay the actual tax owed.
            (8) Compliance with the current tax code is a financial 
        hardship for employers that falls disproportionately on small 
        businesses, which spend an average of $74 per hour on tax-
        related compliance, making it the most expensive paperwork 
        burden they encounter.
            (9) Small businesses have been responsible for two-thirds 
        of the jobs created in the United States over the past 15 
        years, and approximately half of small-business profits are 
        taxed at the current top 2 individual rates.
            (10) The historic range for tax revenues collected by the 
        Federal government has averaged 18 to 19 percent of Gross 
        Domestic Product (GDP), but will rise to 21.2 percent of GDP 
        under current law--a level never reached, let alone sustained, 
        in the Nation's history.
            (11) The current tax code is highly punitive, with a top 
        Federal individual income tax rate of 35 percent (which is set 
        to climb to over 40 percent in 2013 when taking into account 
        certain hidden rates), meaning some Americans could face a 
        combined local, State and Federal tax rate of 50 percent.
            (12) The tax code contains harmful provisions, such as the 
        Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which was initially designed to 
        affect only the very highest-income taxpayers but now threatens 
        more than 30 million middle-class households because of a 
        flawed design.
            (13) As of April 1, 2012, the United States achieved the 
        dubious distinction of having the highest corporate tax rate 
        (39.2 percent for Federal and State combined) in the developed 
        world.
            (14) The United States corporate tax rate is more than 50 
        percent higher than the average rate of member states of the 
        Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)--a 
        factor that discourages employers and investors from locating 
        jobs and investments in the United States.
            (15) The United States has become an outlier in that it 
        still uses a ``worldwide'' system of taxation--one that has not 
        been substantially reformed in 50 years, when the United States 
        accounted for nearly half of global economic output and had no 
        serious competitors around the world.
            (16) The combination of the highest corporate tax rate with 
        an antiquated ``worldwide'' system subjects American companies 
        to double taxation when they attempt to compete with foreign 
        companies in overseas markets and then reinvest their earnings 
        in the United States.
            (17) The Nation's outdated tax code has contributed to the 
        fact that the world's largest companies are more likely to be 
        headquartered overseas today than at any point in the last 50 
        years: In 1960, 17 of the world's 20 largest companies were 
        based in the United States; by 2010, that number sank to a mere 
        six out of 20.
            (18) The United States has one of the highest levels of 
        taxation on capital--taxing it once at the corporate level and 
        then again at the individual level--with integrated tax rates 
        on certain investment income already reaching roughly 50 
        percent (and scheduled to reach nearly 70 percent in 2013).
            (19) The United States' overall taxation of capital is 
        higher than all but four of the 38 countries that make up the 
        OECD and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China).
    (b) Purposes.--It is the purpose of this Act to provide for 
enactment of comprehensive tax reform in 2013 that--
            (1) protects taxpayers by creating a fairer, simpler, 
        flatter tax code for individuals and families by--
                    (A) lowering marginal tax rates and broadening the 
                tax base;
                    (B) eliminating special interest loopholes;
                    (C) reducing complexity in the tax code, making tax 
                compliance easier and less costly;
                    (D) repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax;
                    (E) maintaining modern levels of progressivity so 
                as to not overburden any one group or further erode the 
                tax base;
                    (F) making it easier for Americans to save; and
                    (G) reducing the tax burdens imposed on married 
                couples and families;
            (2) is comprehensive (addressing both individual and 
        corporate rates), so as to have the maximum economic impact by 
        benefitting employers and their employees regardless of how a 
        business is structured;
            (3) results in tax revenue consistent with historical 
        norms;
            (4) spurs greater investment, innovation and job creation, 
        and therefore increases economic activity and the size of the 
        economy on a dynamic basis as compared to the current tax code; 
        and
            (5) makes American workers and businesses more competitive 
        by--
                    (A) creating a stable, predictable tax code under 
                which families and employers are best able to plan for 
                the future;
                    (B) keeping taxes on small businesses low;
                    (C) reducing America's corporate tax rate, which is 
                currently the highest in the industrialized world;
                    (D) maintaining a level of parity between 
                individual and corporate rates to reduce economic 
                distortions;
                    (E) promoting innovation in the United States;
                    (F) transitioning to a globally competitive 
                territorial tax system;
                    (G) minimizing the double taxation of investment 
                and capital; and
                    (H) reducing the impact of taxes on business 
                decision-making to allow such decisions to be driven by 
                their economic potential.

SEC. 3. EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION OF A MEASURE PROVIDING FOR 
              COMPREHENSIVE TAX REFORM.

    (a) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``tax 
reform bill'' means a bill of the 113th Congress--
            (1) introduced in the House of Representatives by the chair 
        of the Committee on Ways and Means not later than April 30, 
        2013, or the first legislative day thereafter if the House is 
        not in session on that day, the title of which is as follows: 
        ``A bill to provide for comprehensive tax reform.''; and
            (2) which is the subject of a certification under 
        subsection (b).
    (b) Certification.--The chair of the Joint Committee on Taxation 
shall notify the House and Senate in writing whenever the chair of the 
Joint Committee determines that an introduced bill described in 
subsection (a)(1) contains at least each of the following proposals:
            (1) a consolidation of the current 6 individual income tax 
        brackets into not more than two brackets of 10 and not more 
        than 25 percent;
            (2) a reduction in the corporate tax rate to not greater 
        than 25 percent;
            (3) a repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax;
            (4) a broadening of the tax base to maintain revenue 
        between 18 and 19 percent of the economy; and
            (5) a change from a ``worldwide'' to a ``territorial'' 
        system of taxation.
    (c) Expedited Consideration in the House of Representatives.--
            (1) Any committee of the House of Representatives to which 
        the tax reform bill is referred shall report it to the House 
        not later than 20 calendar days after the date of its 
        introduction. If a committee fails to report the tax reform 
        bill within that period, such committee shall be automatically 
        discharged from further consideration of the bill.
            (2) If the House has not otherwise proceeded to the 
        consideration of the tax reform bill upon the expiration of 15 
        legislative days after the bill has been placed on the Union 
        Calendar, it shall be in order for the Majority Leader or a 
        designee (or, after the expiration of an additional 2 
        legislative days, any Member), to offer one motion that the 
        House resolve into the Committee of the Whole House on the 
        state of the Union for the consideration of the tax reform 
        bill. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on 
        the motion to its adoption without intervening motion except 20 
        minutes of debate equally divided and controlled by the 
        proponent and an opponent. If such a motion is adopted, 
        consideration shall proceed in accordance with paragraph (3). A 
        motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is disposed 
        of shall not be in order.
            (3) The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. 
        General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not 
        exceed 4 hours, equally divided and controlled by the chair and 
        ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means. At 
        the conclusion of general debate, the bill shall be read for 
        amendment under the five-minute rule. Any committee amendment 
        shall be considered as read. At the conclusion of consideration 
        of the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report 
        the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been 
        adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered 
        on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without 
        intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or 
        without instructions. A motion to reconsider the vote on 
        passage of the bill shall not be in order.
    (d) Expedited Consideration in the Senate.--
            (1) Committee consideration.--A tax reform bill, as defined 
        in subsection (a), received in the Senate shall be referred to 
        the Committee on Finance. The Committee shall report the bill 
        not later than 15 calendar days after receipt of the bill in 
        the Senate. If the Committee fails to report the bill within 
        that period, that committee shall be discharged from 
        consideration of the bill, and the bill shall be placed on the 
        calendar.
            (2) Motion to proceed.--Notwithstanding rule XXII of the 
        Standing Rules of the Senate, it is in order, not later than 2 
        days of session after the date on which the tax reform bill is 
        reported or discharged from committee, for the majority leader 
        of the Senate or the majority leader's designee to move to 
        proceed to the consideration of the tax reform bill. It shall 
        also be in order for any Member of the Senate to move to 
        proceed to the consideration of the tax reform bill at any time 
        after the conclusion of such 2-day period. A motion to proceed 
        is in order even though a previous motion to the same effect 
        has been disagreed to. All points of order against the motion 
        to proceed to the tax reform bill are waived. The motion to 
        proceed is not debatable. The motion is not subject to a motion 
        to postpone.
            (3) Consideration.--No motion to recommit shall be in order 
        and debate on any motion or appeal shall be limited to one 
        hour, to be divided in the usual form.
            (4) Amendments.--All amendments must be relevant to the 
        bill and debate on any amendment shall be limited to 2 hours to 
        be equally divided in the usual form between the opponents and 
        proponents of the amendment. Debate on any amendment to an 
        amendment, debatable motion, or appeal shall be limited to 1 
        hour to be equally divided in the usual form between the 
        opponents and proponents of the amendment.
            (5) Vote on passage.--If the Senate has proceeded to the 
        bill, and following the conclusion of all debate, the Senate 
        shall proceed to a vote on passage of the bill as amended, if 
        amended.
    (e) Conference in the House.--If the House receives a message that 
the Senate has passed the tax reform bill with an amendment or 
amendments, it shall be in order for the chair of the Committee on Ways 
and Means or a designee, without intervention of any point of order, to 
offer any motion specified in clause 1 of rule XXII.
    (f) Conference in the Senate.--If the Senate receives from the 
House a message to accompany the tax reform bill, as defined in 
subsection (a), then no later than two session days after its receipt--
            (1) the Chair shall lay the message before the Senate;
            (2) the motion to insist on the Senate amendment or 
        disagree to the House amendment or amendments to the Senate 
        amendment, the request for a conference with the House or the 
        motion to agree to the request of the House for a conference, 
        and the motion to authorize the Chair to appoint conferees on 
        the part of the Senate shall be agreed to; and
            (3) the Chair shall then be authorized to appoint conferees 
        on the part of the Senate without intervening motion, with a 
        ratio agreed to with the concurrence of both leaders.
    (g) Rulemaking.--This section is enacted by the Congress as an 
exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of Representatives and 
Senate, respectively, and as such is deemed a part of the rules of each 
House, respectively, or of that House to which they specifically apply, 
and such procedures supersede other rules only to the extent that they 
are inconsistent with such rules; and with full recognition of the 
constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as 
relating to the procedures of that House) at any time, in the same 
manner, and to the same extent as any other rule of that House.
                                                 House

Summary: Pathway to Job Creation through a Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act of 2012 - States that the purpose of this Act is to provide for the enactment of comprehensive tax reform in 2013 that: (1) protects taxpayers by creating a fairer, simpler, flatter tax code; (2) is comprehensive; (3) results in tax revenue consistent with historical norms; (4) spurs greater investment, innovation and job creation; and (5) makes American workers and businesses more competitive.

Defines a "tax reform bill" for purposes of this Act as a bill to be introduced by the chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means not later than April 30, 2013, that is certified by the chair of the Joint Committee on Taxation as containing proposals to: (1) consolidate the 6 current individual income tax brackets into a maximum of 2 brackets (of 10% and not higher than 25%), (2) reduce the corporate income tax rate to not more than 25%, (3) repeal the alternative minimum tax (AMT), (4) broaden the tax base so that tax revenues comprise between 18% and 19% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and (5) reform the current system of foreign taxation.

Provides for the expedited consideration of such bill in the House of Representatives and the Senate.