Title: Members of Congress Tax Liability and Garnishment Accountability Act of 2020
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
Members of Congress Tax Liability and Garnishment Accountability Act of 2020
This bill requires Members of Congress to disclose any delinquent tax liability or garnishment of their wages, and it establishes mechanisms for a Member to pay what is owed on a delinquent tax liability.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6177 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6177

 To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liabilities 
             and wage garnishments, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 10, 2020

 Mr. McCarthy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require Members of Congress to disclose delinquent tax liabilities 
             and wage garnishments, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Members of Congress Tax Liability 
and Garnishment Accountability Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO DISCLOSE TAX LIABILITY AND 
              WAGE GARNISHMENT IN ANNUAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS.

    (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)--
            ``(i) the amount of any delinquent tax liability owed to 
        the United States or any State or unit of local government; and
            ``(ii) the amount of any garnishment against the 
        individual's salary.
    ``(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 percent 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 
        individual 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.) is amended by striking 
``paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (1) and (9)''.
    (c) Federal Tax Liability.--
            (1) Requiring garnishment of compensation.--A Member of 
        Congress who discloses a delinquent tax liability under section 
        102(a)(9) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added by 
        subsection (a)) shall, not later than 30 calendar days after 
        filing the form, make an arrangement with the Secretary of the 
        Senate or the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of 
        Representatives, as the case may be, and the Internal Revenue 
        Service or the State or unit of local government involved, as 
        the case may be, to have an appropriate amount of the Member's 
        salary designated to pay the taxes owed to the United States or 
        the State or unit of local government involved within a 
        reasonable time period.
            (2) Member of congress defined.--In this subsection, the 
        term ``Member of Congress'' means a Senator or a Representative 
        in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress.

SEC. 3. HOLDING SALARIES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN ESCROW UNTIL 
              REPAYMENT OF DELINQUENT TAX LIABILITY.

    (a) Holding Salaries in Escrow.--
            (1) In general.--If a Member of Congress who has disclosed 
        a delinquent tax liability under section 102(a)(9) of the 
        Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (as added by section 2(a)) has 
        not met the deadline under section 2(c)(1) to make the 
        arrangement required under such section to pay the taxes owed, 
        during the period described in paragraph (2) the payroll 
        administrator of that House of Congress shall--
                    (A) withhold from the Member's compensation such 
                amount as may be directed by the Secretary of the 
                Treasury (in the case of a delinquent tax liability 
                owed to the United States) or the State or unit of 
                local government involved (in the case of a delinquent 
                tax liability owed to a State or unit of local 
                government) to pay the taxes owed within a reasonable 
                period of time; and
                    (B) deposit in an escrow account the remaining 
                portion of the payments otherwise required to be made 
                during such period for the compensation of the Member 
                and release such payments to the Member only upon the 
                expiration of such period.
            (2) Period described.--With respect to a Member of 
        Congress, the period described in this paragraph is the period 
        which begins on the date on which the Secretary of the Treasury 
        (in the case of a delinquent tax liability owed to the United 
        States) or the State or unit of local government involved (in 
        the case of a delinquent tax liability owed to a State or unit 
        of local government) provides the notification described in 
        paragraph (3) to the payroll administrator and ends on the 
        earlier of--
                    (A) the day on which the Secretary of the Treasury 
                or the State or unit of local government involved (as 
                the case may be) notifies the payroll administrator 
                that the Member's delinquent tax liability has been 
                repaid; or
                    (B) the last day of the Congress during which 
                amounts are withheld under this section.
            (3) Notification described.--With respect to a Member of 
        Congress, a notification described in this paragraph is a 
        notification from the Secretary of the Treasury or the State or 
        unit of local government involved (as the case may be) 
        containing--
                    (A) a statement that the Member has not met the 
                deadline under section 2(c)(1) to make the arrangement 
                required under such section to pay the taxes owed; and
                    (B) a statement of the amount to be withheld from 
                the Member's compensation under paragraph (1)(A).
            (4) Withholding and remittance of amounts from payments 
        held in escrow.--The payroll administrator shall provide for 
        the same withholding and remittance with respect to a payment 
        deposited in an escrow account under paragraph (1) that would 
        apply to the payment if the payment were not subject to 
        paragraph (1).
            (5) Release of amounts at end of the congress.--In order to 
        ensure that this section is carried out in a manner that shall 
        not vary the compensation of Senators or Representatives in 
        violation of the twenty-seventh article of amendment to the 
        Constitution of the United States, the payroll administrator of 
        a House of Congress shall release for payment to a Member of 
        that House of Congress any amounts remaining in an escrow 
        account for the Member under this section on the last day of 
        the Congress during which amounts are withheld under this 
        section.
            (6) Role of secretary of the treasury.--The Secretary of 
        the Treasury shall provide the payroll administrators of the 
        Houses of Congress with such assistance as may be necessary to 
        enable the payroll administrators to carry out this section.
    (b) Payroll Administrator Defined.--In this section, the ``payroll 
administrator'' of a House of Congress means--
            (1) in the case of the House of Representatives, the Chief 
        Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives, or an 
        employee of the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer who 
        is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer to carry out 
        this section; and
            (2) in the case of the Senate, the Secretary of the Senate, 
        or an employee of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate who 
        is designated by the Secretary to carry out this section.

SEC. 4. REPORTING OF INFORMATION ON GARNISHMENT OF COMPENSATION.

    (a) Compensation of Members of the House.--Section 106(b) of the 
House of Representatives Administrative Reform Technical Corrections 
Act (2 U.S.C. 5535(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5);
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(6) if during the period covered by the report, the Chief 
        Administrative Officer withheld amounts from a Member's 
        compensation under section 3(a) of the Members of Congress Tax 
        Liability and Garnishment Accountability Act of 2020 or under 
        an order of garnishment which required the Chief Administrative 
        Officer to withhold a certain amount from the Member's 
        compensation to satisfy a debt owed by the Member to another 
        person (other than amounts withheld under an agreement entered 
        into by the Secretary of the Treasury under section 6159 of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or amounts withheld pursuant to a 
        compromise of a case under section 7122 of such Code), the 
        identification of the Member and the amount withheld; and''.
    (b) Compensation of Senators.--Section 105(a) of the Legislative 
Branch Appropriations Act, 1965 (2 U.S.C. 4108) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(7) If during the period covered by a report under paragraph (1), 
the Secretary of the Senate withheld amounts from a Senator's 
compensation under section 3(a) of the Members of Congress Tax 
Liability and Garnishment Accountability Act of 2020 or under an order 
of garnishment which required the Secretary to withhold a certain 
amount from the Senator's compensation to satisfy a debt owed by the 
Senator to another person, the Secretary shall include in the report 
the identification of the Senator and the amount withheld. The previous 
sentence does not apply in the case of amounts withheld under an 
agreement entered into by the Secretary of the Treasury under section 
6159 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or amounts withheld pursuant 
to a compromise of a case under section 7122 of such Code.''.
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