Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions S882

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

By Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY):

S. 882. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide improvements in tax administration and taxpayer safeguards, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today we are introducing the Tax Administration Good Government Act.
The legislation contains five major components. First, it provides additional safeguards for taxpayers. Second, the legislation significantly simplifies the current interest and penalty regimes. Third, the Act also includes the proposals passed out of the Finance Committee on April 2, 2003 and included in a bill introduced by Senators HATCH and BREAUX to modernize the United States Tax Court.

Fourth, our legislation also includes several provisions, some of which were requested by the Treasury Department and the Joint Committee on Taxation, to strike an appropriate balance in protecting taxpayer confidentiality through disclosure reforms. Finally, the legislation takes a small, but important step toward simplification of the tax code through the elimination of obsolete provisions.

We have worked closely with the Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Taxpayer Advocate and the Joint Committee on Taxation to develop this package of proposals to promote good government in the administration of our tax code.

Congress's responsibility for the tax system does not stop after we pass tax law changes. We have an oversight responsibility to ensure that taxpayer rights are protected, that our tax laws are not administered counter to Congressional intent, that the judicial body with primary jurisdiction over the tax laws has the tools necessary to provide independent review of controversies between taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service, and to take steps to simplify the tax code whenever possible.

It is our intention to pass a package of tax administration good government proposals out of the Finance Committee in the coming months. We urge our colleagues to support this important legislation.
We also submit for the RECORD a more detailed description of the specific provisions included in the Tax Administration Good Government Act.