National Debt and Taxation Transparency Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-745
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2015-03-16
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt

Employment taxes

Government information and archives

Income tax rates

Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
Latest action: action_date: 2015-03-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-03-16
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>National Debt and Taxation Transparency Act of 2015</strong></p> <p>This bill directs the Department of the Treasury, beginning not later than October 1, 2017, to provide each individual who has a valid social security number, who received a Form W-2 in the previous taxable year, and who has filed a tax return in any previous taxable year (eligible individual) with a taxpayer account statement. An initial statement must be provided to each eligible individual with a current mailing address not later than September 30, 2020. </p> <p>The taxpayer account statement shall include: (1) a summary of the most recent Financial Report of the U.S. government, including the Statement of Long Term Fiscal Projections; (2) a calculation by Treasury of the eligible individual's share of the total obligations of the federal government; and (3) a 30-year calculation of the proportional increase in the federal income tax rates necessary to entirely finance the current fiscal path of the federal government, assuming there are no changes in current fiscal policy and no budget deficit. </p>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 745 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 16, 2015 Mr. Cornyn introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide debt and tax transparency to taxpayers.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the National Debt and Taxation Transparency Act of 2015 . 2. Findings and purposes (a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) United States taxpayers work on average almost 3 months of every year to pay for the operations of the Federal Government. (2) United States taxpayers spent on average 20 percent of their total income on Federal taxes in 2014. (3) In 2014, United States taxpayers spent more on taxes than on food, clothing, and housing combined. (4) The Federal Government spent the equivalent of more than $28,800 per United States household in 2014, adding $4,000 per household to the Federal deficit. (5) The national debt as of January 2015 exceeds $145,000 per United States household. (b) Purposes The purposes of this Act are— (1) to bring more transparency to the tax-and-spend habit of the Federal Government; (2) to provide for better accountability in the Federal budget and appropriations process; and (3) to increase the participation of United States citizens in their government. 3. A taxpayer financial statement to taxpayers (a) Provision of statement upon request Beginning not later than October 1, 2017, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) shall provide to each eligible individual a taxpayer account statement for such individual. (b) Taxpayer account statement The taxpayer account statement required under subsection (a) shall include— (1) a summary of the most recent Financial Report of the United States Government, including the Statement of Long Term Fiscal Projections; (2) a calculation by the Secretary of the Treasury of the eligible individual’s share of the total obligations of the Federal Government, including those incurred in Medicare, Social Security, other civilian and military retirement benefit programs, publicly-held debt, and any other liabilities and expenses, as reported by the most recent Financial Report of the United States Government; and (3) a 30-year calculation of the proportional increase in the Federal income tax rates, as established under chapter 1 of subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, necessary to entirely finance the current fiscal path of the Federal Government, assuming no changes in current fiscal policy and assuming no budget deficit. (c) Additional calculation Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall also provide an estimate of the marginal tax rate and the income and payroll tax liability of the individual under the assumptions stated under subsection (b)(6). (d) Eligible individual For purposes of this section, the term eligible individual means an individual who— (1) has a valid social security number issued by the Social Security Administration; (2) received a Form W–2 in the previous taxable year; and (3) has filed a return of tax in any previous taxable year. (e) Notice The Secretary of the Treasury shall, to the maximum extent practicable, take such steps as are necessary to assure that eligible individuals are informed of the availability of the statement required under subsection (a). (f) Mandatory provision of initial statements By not later than September 30, 2020, the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary's delegate) shall provide a taxpayer account statement containing the information required under subsection (b) to each eligible individual for whom a current mailing address can be determined. The Secretary shall provide with each such statement notice that an updated version of such statement is available annually upon request.