[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
Calendar No. 502
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 10, 2012
Received; read the first time
September 11, 2012
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and 2003, and
to provide for expedited consideration of a bill providing for
comprehensive tax reform, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I--JOB PROTECTION AND RECESSION PREVENTION ACT
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Job Protection and Recession
Prevention Act of 2012''.
SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF 2001 AND 2003 TAX RELIEF.
(a) Extension of 2001 Tax Relief.--
(1) In general.--Section 901 of the Economic Growth and Tax
Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 is amended by striking
``December 31, 2012'' both places it appears and inserting
``December 31, 2013''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.
(b) Extension of 2003 Tax Relief.--
(1) In general.--Section 303 of the Jobs and Growth Tax
Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 is amended by striking
``December 31, 2012'' and inserting ``December 31, 2013''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by this section
shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the Jobs
and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.
SEC. 103. EXTENSION OF INCREASED SMALL BUSINESS EXPENSING.
(a) Dollar Limitation.--Section 179(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (C), by
redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E), and by
inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new
subparagraph:
``(D) $100,000 in the case of taxable years
beginning in 2013, and'', and
(2) by striking ``2012'' in subparagraph (E) (as
redesignated by paragraph (1)) and inserting ``2013''.
(b) Reduction in Limitation.--Section 179(b)(2) of such Code is
amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (C), by
redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E), and by
inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new
subparagraph:
``(D) $400,000 in the case of taxable years
beginning in 2013, and'', and
(2) by striking ``2012'' in subparagraph (E) (as
redesignated by paragraph (1)) and inserting ``2013''.
(c) Application of Inflation Adjustment.--Section 179(b)(6)(A) of
such Code is amended--
(1) by striking ``calendar year 2012, the $125,000 and
$500,000 amounts in paragraphs (1)(C) and (2)(C)'' in the
matter preceding clause (i) and inserting ``calendar year 2013,
the $100,000 and $400,000 amounts in paragraphs (1)(D) and
(2)(D)'', and
(2) by striking ``calendar year 2006'' in clause (ii) and
inserting ``calendar year 2002''.
(d) Computer Software.--Section 179(d)(1)(A)(ii) of such Code is
amended by striking ``2013'' and inserting ``2014''.
(e) Special Rule for Revocation of Elections.--Section 179(c)(2) of
such Code is amended by striking ``2013'' and inserting ``2014''.
(f) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.
SEC. 104. EXTENSION OF ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX RELIEF FOR INDIVIDUALS.
(a) Extension of Increased Alternative Minimum Tax Exemption
Amount.--Section 55(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is
amended--
(1) by striking ``$72,450'' and all that follows through
``2011'' in subparagraph (A) and inserting ``$78,750 in the
case of taxable years beginning in 2012 and $79,850 in the case
of taxable years beginning in 2013'', and
(2) by striking ``$47,450'' and all that follows through
``2011'' in subparagraph (B) and inserting ``$50,600 in the
case of taxable years beginning in 2012 and $51,150 in the case
of taxable years beginning in 2013''.
(b) Extension of Alternative Minimum Tax Relief for Nonrefundable
Personal Credits.--Section 26(a)(2) of such Code is amended--
(1) by striking ``during 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, or 2011'' and inserting
``after 1999 and before 2014'', and
(2) by striking ``2011'' in the heading thereof and
inserting ``2013''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2011.
SEC. 105. TREATMENT FOR PAYGO PURPOSES.
The budgetary effects of this Act shall not be entered on either
PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of the Statutory
Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.
TITLE II--PATHWAY TO JOB CREATION THROUGH A SIMPLER, FAIRER TAX CODE
ACT
SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Pathway to Job Creation through a
Simpler, Fairer Tax Code Act of 2012''.
SEC. 202. 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. 203. 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.
Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 2012.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.
Calendar No. 502
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and 2003, and
to provide for expedited consideration of a bill providing for
comprehensive tax reform, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
September 11, 2012
Read the second time and placed on the calendar