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Bill· HRH.R. 4298 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Cyanide Mining Impact Relief Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an environmental excise tax of 50 cents per pound on cyanide: (1) sold by any person for use by the purchaser in mining or mineral activities in the United States; or (2) used by any person in such mining or mineral activities unless there was a previous taxable sale. Establishes the Abandoned Mine Remediation Trust Fund consisting of a Federal Account and a State Account to share equally in revenues from the excise tax on cyanide used in mining or mineral activities. Authorizes expenditures from the Federal account for the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely affected by past mineral (other than coal or fluid minerals) and mineral materials mining. Authorizes expenditures from the State Account for mining-related cleanup, research into the consequences of intensive metals production, and monitoring and enforcement.
Bill· HRH.R. 4294 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Citizen Representative Reform Act Stop Special Treatment Provision - Title I: Congressional Exemptions - Makes applicable to the Congress the following Federal laws, to the extent that they relate to the terms and conditions of employment, the health and safety of employees, and the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees: (1) Social Security Act; (2) National Labor Relations Act; (3) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; (4) Civil Rights Act of 1964; (5) Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; (6) Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; (7) title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; (8) Rehabilitation Act of 1973; (9) Privacy Act of 1974; (10) Age Discrimination Act of 1975; (11) Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and (12) Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Makes applicable also to the Congress specified provisions of Federal law: (1) commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act; and (2) relating to independent counsel. Title II: Congressional Perks - Directs all Members of Congress to pay full market value for all medical services, medical tests, and medications provided by the Office of the Attending Physician. Establishes the Office of Attending Physician Revolving Fund in the Treasury (within the contingent fund of the House of Representatives) for deposit of such payments and monies received from any other source. Orders the closing of all beauty and barber shops on the premises of any property belonging to the House of Representatives. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) Members of Congress should be charged rates comparable to those in other parking facilities at Washington National Airport; and (2) records of such expenses should be made accessible to the public. Directs all Members of the House to pay full market value for the use of the health facilities on the premises of the Capitol or any House office building. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal Government shall not bear any of the cost of health insurance for its Members. Directs the General Accounting Office to: (1) identify and report to the Congress on all benefits that accrue to Members of the House; and (2) determine the market value or a close approximation of each of those benefits and to what extent tax dollars are used to pay for them. Title III: Miscellaneous - Requires the House and the Senate each to promulgate rules and regulations to carry out this Act, including ones specifically implementing each of the laws set forth in title I.
Bill· HRH.R. 4295 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Citizen Representative Reform Act Merit Pay Provision - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to reduce the annual salary of a Member of Congress by five percent if the total expenditures of the Federal Government exceed its total receipts for a fiscal year. Makes the reduction effective the first pay period beginning on or after the date the Congress receives the report from the Secretary of the Treasury relating to such fiscal year. Requires such reductions in salary to be disregarded the first pay period beginning on or after the date the Congress receives a report indicating that total receipts of the Federal Government are greater than or equal to its total expenditures for a fiscal year. Requires restoration of the Member's salary for such position to the level which would then be in effect without enactment of this Act. Mandates such pay adjustments before any other adjustment scheduled to take effect on the same day for the same position. Prohibits the House of Representatives or the Senate from considering any bill or resolution increasing the salary for Members of Congress, with specified exceptions, unless the bill or resolution deals with no subject matter other than a pay increase for members. Requires a recorded vote by the House or Senate in the passage or adoption of such bill or resolution to reflect the vote of each Member voting.
Bill· HRH.R. 4302 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow higher education loans from qualified employer plans to be repaid within 15 (instead of five) years. Describes a reasonable interest rate for such loans which will exempt them from the tax on prohibited transactions. Exempts such loans from the tax treatment applicable to loans with below-market interest rates.
Bill· HRH.R. 4309 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Fairplay for Taxpayers Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to declare that the communications between a lawyer, an accountant, or an enrolled agent with respect to the preparation of a tax return for a client and the client shall be privileged in the U.S. courts. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the interest rate for overpayment of tax from two percent to three percent (making such rate equal to the interest rate for underpayment of tax). Provides that if a taxpayer pays the full amount of taxes, interest, and penalties owed within 45 days (currently, ten days) from the date of notice and demand, then no interest liability will be imposed. Requires any final, temporary, or proposed tax regulation or ruling to be applied prospectively from the date of publication in the Federal Register. Provides that such prospective-only treatment may be superseded only by congressional action. Replaces the "substantially-prevailed" test for determining whether a taxpayer may recover costs and fees incurred as part of an administrative or court proceeding with a "prevailed-to-some-extent" test. Allows the taxpayer to recover the same percentage of costs incurred as the percentage by which he or she prevails in the controversy. Revises the meaning of reasonable administrative costs to include only costs incurred during, or in preparation for, the initial audit, or an appeals conference, or at any time thereafter. Expands the current test allowing taxpayers to sue for civil damages for certain unauthorized collection actions to allow a suit if in connection with any collection of tax any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) carelessly disregards tax law. (The current test is "recklessly or intentionally disregards".) Directs the IRS to require all employees to report to the Inspection Service all instances of misconduct. Directs the Commissioner of IRS to make quarterly reports to the Inspector General concerning cases reported to the Inspection Service. Requires the Inspector General to submit an annual summary of such quarterly reports to specified congressional committees. Directs the Commissioner to carry out an education and training program for all IRS employees regarding appropriate and ethical conduct of governmental duties and responsibilities, including an explanation of applicable standards of conduct. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 4304 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an alternative minimum tax (AMT) on certain corporations equal to five percent of their net business receipts for a taxable year. Imposes such tax on a corporation (foreign or domestic), if: (1) its gross sales in the United States of manufactured parts or products exceeded $10,000,000; (2) it imported such products with a customs value in excess of $10,000,000 ("artifically inflated prices"); and (3) its tax obligation under this AMT exceeds its total tax obligation.
Bill· HRH.R. 4307 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that special valuation rules in the case of transfers of interests in trusts do not apply to principal residences. (Current law refers to personal residences. This change would apply such rules to personal residences other than a principal residence.)
Bill· HRH.R. 4299 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify certain environmental property used for pollution abatement as five-year depreciation property for purposes of the accelerated cost recovery system and the alternative depreciation system. Excepts such property from depreciation rules for purposes of adjustments in computing alternative minimum taxable income. Repeals the deduction for amortization of pollution control facilities.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 374 (102nd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Sets forth the rule for the consideration of H.R. 4210 (tax provisions).
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 376 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Amends rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit the consideration of any measure appropriating amounts for salaries and expenses of the House unless such measure: (1) prohibits availability of any such amount for obligation for that purpose after the end of the fiscal year for which the amount is appropriated; and (2) requires that any such amount not so obligated be used for open-market purchase of outstanding interest-bearing obligations of the Government.
Bill· HRH.R. 4293 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1992
Provides an extension, at the election of the qualified taxpayer, of the time for payment of income tax on the nonexcluded portion of the combat pay of members of the armed forces serving in the Persian Gulf conflict.
Bill· SS. 2248 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1992
American Veterans' Health Care Reform Act of 1992 - Defines as a "core-entitled veteran" any veteran currently eligible for hospital, nursing home, and domiciliary care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Makes the provisions by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of nursing home and domiciliary care for core-entitled veterans mandatory (currently discretionary). Requires (currently authorizes) the Secretary: (1) when Department facilities are not available, to contract with non-Department facilities for hospital care and medical services for core-entitled veterans; and (2) to transfer to a non-Department nursing home for adult day care core-entitled veterans who cannot be kept at a Department nursing facility. Makes the provision of dental services in non-Department facilities mandatory for core-entitled veterans (currently discretionary) when such veterans cannot be furnished such treatment in a Department facility because of incapacity or geographical inaccessibility. Requires (currently allows) the provision of domiciliary care to certain low-income veterans. Authorizes the provision of domiciliary care to ineligible (non-core-entitled) veterans who agree to participate in a managed health care plan established under this Act. Directs (currently authorizes) the Secretary to correct or treat any non-service-connected disability of a core-entitled veteran when such veteran is already receiving hospital or nursing home care in a Department facility. Makes an identical change with respect to the provision of dental services and treatment for a non-service-connected dental condition. Authorizes the Secretary to perform outpatient services for certain veterans if the Secretary determines they are needed (currently, only for medical services necessary in preparation for hospital admission or to obviate the need for such admission). Makes mandatory (currently discretionary) the provision by the Secretary on an ambulatory or outpatient basis of needed medical services for: (1) former POWs; (2) any veteran of the Mexican border period or World War I; and (3) any veteran in receipt of an increased pension or allowance based on the need for regular aid or attendance or by reason of being permanently housebound. Requires the provision of outpatient dental services, treatment, and related appliances to any core-entitled veteran. Allows any other veteran to be furnished such services if they participate in the Department-managed health care plan. Directs the Secretary to furnish readjustment counseling to any veteran who served on active duty (currently, only to any active-duty Vietnam era veteran). Directs the Secretary to provide seeing eye or guide dogs and related expenses and mechanical or electronic equipment used for overcomining blindness to any core-entitled veteran. Allows the Secretary to provide such dogs, expenses, or equipment to any other veteran who agrees to participate in the Department-managed health care plan. Directs the Secretary, in the case of core-entitled veterans, to: (1) furnish home health services (including lifts) found necessary to treat a veteran's disability or if medically necessary; (2) furnish devices for assistance in overcoming deafness; (3) repair or replace any artificial limb, truss, brace, hearing aid, spectacles, or similar appliance reasonably necessary and belonging to a veteran; (4) transfer such veteran from a Department to a non-Department nursing home at his or her request; (5) contract for care, treatment and rehabilitative services in halfway houses, therapeutic communities, psychiatric residential treatment centers, and other community-based treatment facilities for those suffering from alcohol or drug dependence or abuse; and (6) furnish respite care services. Makes permanent the provision of such respite care services (currently terminates on September 30, 1992). Directs the Secretary to provide certain of such services to non-core-entitled veterans who agree to participate in the Department-managed health care plan. Exempts core-entitled veterans from any required medication copayments. Makes permanent (currently terminates September 30, 1991) such required copayments for non-core-entitled veterans. Directs the Secretary to furnish preventive health care services to any core-entitled veteran requesting such services. Authorizes the Secretary to provide such services to any other veteran who either agrees to pay the United States a reasonable amount for such services or participates in the Department-managed health care plan. Outlines the various preventive services offered. Requires the Secretary, in carrying out such services, to emphasize the use of inter-disciplinary health care teams composed of various professional and para-professional personnel. Directs the Secretary to design, implement, and maintain a managed health care services plan to make a variety of health care services packages available to non-core entitled veterans and their survivors and dependents. Directs the Secretary to determine a range of premiums for such packages which are affordable to potential participants in the plan. Requires such plan to be established within two years after enactment of this Act. Authorizes payments by non-core entitled veterans for discretionary services provided to such veterans and their survivors and dependents through the Department to be paid directly to the Government, from a plan fund derived from the payment of premiums, or through reimbursement under Medicare, Medicaid, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS), private health insurance, or by any combination of such payment alternatives. Authorizes appropriations, for fiscal years beginning after 1992 and to the extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts, of necessary sums to provide benefits to which entitlement is established under this Act, including the cost necessary to allow the Department to practice quality management and assurance functions. Authorizes appropriations for the same period to cover administrative expenses in carrying out this Act. Includes Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements under the definition of a "health plan contract," thereby allowing such reimbursements to be included in the health plan established under this Act. Authorizes: (1) the United States to collect for care and services provided to non-core-entitled veterans and their survivors and dependents under CHAMPUS, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other health insurance plan; and (2) the Secretary to use funds collected in the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical-Care Cost Recovery Fund for providing benefits and paying administrative and operational expenses for the delivery of health care services. Exempts all health benefits which core-entitled veterans are provided under appropriate Federal provisions from sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees on the implementation and operation of health care plans and reforms created by this Act. Directs the Secretary, as part of each such report, to request and take into account comments provided by congressionally-chartered veterans' organizations.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 260 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1992
Declares that the Congress shall oppose any attempt to increase taxes on life insurance annuities.
Bill· SS. 2239 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1992
Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 - Title I: Taxpayers Advocate - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the Office of Taxpayer Advocate, headed by the Taxpayer Advocate, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Office to: (1) assist taxpayers in resolving problems with the IRS; (2) identify areas in which taxpayers have problems in dealings with the IRS; (3) propose changes in the administrative practices of the IRS to mitigate such problems; and (4) identify potential legislative changes which may be appropriate to mitigate such problems. Requires the Taxpayer Advocate to annually report to specified congressional committees on Office activities. Requires the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to establish procedures requiring a formal response to all recommendations submitted to the Commissioner by the Taxpayer Advocate. Replaces the Office of the Ombudsman with the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate. Revises the terms of a Taxpayer Assistance Order to: (1) assist a taxpayer suffering a hardship (currently, a significant hardship); (2) allow the Order to require the Secretary of the Treasury to act within a specified time period; and (3) require the Secretary to take certain actions (currently, only to cease or refrain from taking certain actions). Title II: Modifications to Installment Agreement Provisions - Grants certain taxpayers the right to an installment agreement for the payment of tax liability less than $10,000. Requires prior notification to taxpayers under an installment agreement to pay tax liability before altering, modifying, or terminating such an agreement. Provides for administrative review of denials of requests for installment agreements. Suspends the failure to pay penalty during any period an installment agreement is in effect. Title III: Interest - Requires the abatement of interest in the case of an assessment due to the unreasonable error or delay of an IRS act. Extends from ten to 21 days the period for which interest will not be imposed after notice and demand for payment, if such payment is less than $100,000. Increases the interest rate for overpayment of tax from two percent to three percent (making such rate equal to the interest rate for underpayment of tax). Title IV: Joint Returns - Requires separate deficiency notices in the case of a joint income tax return if the most recent data available to the IRS shows that such spouses did not file a joint return with each other. Allows the disclosure of collection activities to an individual requesting such information in the case of a joint return where such individual is no longer married to or resides in the same household as the other joint filer. Removes limitation on filing a joint return after filing separate returns. Provides that in the case of an examination of an individual with respect to a joint income tax return, the absent divorced or separated spouse cannot be represented by the individual without such acknowledgement in writing. Title V: Collection Activities - Requires the Secretary to send notices of a proposed tax deficiency. Authorizes the Secretary, in certain cases, to: (1) withdraw a notice of a lien; (2) return property that has been levied upon; and (3) offer compromises in civil or criminal cases. Requires the Secretary, at the request of the taxpayer, to make reasonable efforts to notify credit reporting agencies and financial institutions of such withdrawal notice. Requires prior notification to the taxpayer that the taxpayer is under examination and an explanation of the process. Removes certain limits on the standard of conduct and the dollar limit on the recovery of civil damages for unauthorized collection actions. Revises provisions with respect to a designated summons concerning the standard of review, requirements for issuance, and quash proceedings. Title VI: Information Returns - Requires payee statements to provide the phone number of the person providing payment. Establishes civil damages for the fraudulent filing of information returns. Requires the Secretary to make reasonable investigations to corroborate the accuracy of an information return when making a determination of a deficiency by a third party, when such return is disputed by the taxpayer. Title VII: Modifications to Penalty for Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax - Establishes requirements for preliminary notice and declaratory judgment proceedings for failure to pay tax. Authorizes the Secretary to disclose certain information where more than one person is liable for a penalty. Declares that a person shall not be liable for any penalty for failure to collect and pay over tax if such person: (1) is not a significant owner or highly compensated employee of the trade or business; (2) notifies the Secretary within ten days after such failure; and (3) such notification was before any notice by the Secretary with respect to such failure. Directs the Secretary to ensure that IRS employees are aware of their responsibilities under the tax depository system, the circumstances under which they may be liable for penalties, and reporting responsibilities. Exempts unpaid, volunteer board members of tax-exempt organizations from collection penalties. Title VIII: Awarding of Costs and Certain Fees - Repeals the "substantially justified" test for determining whether a taxpayer may recover costs and fees incurred as part of an administrative or court proceeding. Denies such costs where the position of the United States is substantially justified. Revises the commencement date of reasonable administrative costs. Increases the limit on attorney fees. Provides that any failure to agree to an extension of time for the assessment of any tax shall not be taken into account in determining whether a prevailing party has exhausted all administrative remedies. Title IX: Other Provisions - Revises provisions on the required content of tax due, deficiency, and other notices. Provides protection for noncorporate taxpayers who rely on certain guidance published by the IRS. Requires any final, temporary, or proposed regulation issued by the Secretary to be applied prospectively from the date of publication in the Federal Register. Requires notice to the taxpayer of the inability to associate any payment with any outstanding tax liability. Makes the costs of preparing certain tax returns fully deductible.
Bill· SS. 2237 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1992
Family Income Security Act of 1992 - Title I: Refundable Credit for Children - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit of $1,000 for each child under the age of 19 in lieu of the deduction for personal exemptions for children. Provides an inflation adjustment for such tax credit. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make advance payments of refunds to which eligible taxpayers are entitled by reason of the tax credit for children. Provides that such advance payments shall be made through reductions in employer wage withholdings, if the employee has in effect a child tax credit eligibility certificate. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to establish a taxpayer awareness program to inform the public of the availability of the credit for children. Requires such program to be coordinated with a similar awareness program for the earned income credit. Title II: Increased Earned Income Credit for Larger Families - Increases the earned income credit. Bases the credit percentage on one child, two children, or three or more children. Repeals such credit's interaction with the medical expense deduction, the deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed, and the dependent care credit. Title III: Child Support Insurance Demonstration Projects - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in order to encourage States to provide a guaranteed minimum level of child support for eligible children not receiving such support from a noncustodial parent, to make grants to between four and six States to establish or improve a system of insured minimum child support payments. Requires States to use such grants to carry out a child support insurance project to provide a minimum monthly child support benefit for each eligible child to the extent that such support is not paid by the noncustodial parent. Sets forth administrative, eligibility, and reporting requirements for such projects. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Community Employment Opportunity Demonstration Projects - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Labor to establish a program to implement community employment demonstration projects under which waivers may be granted to eligible economically depressed communities to enable them to use Federal funds to create jobs for low-income parents who are willing to work as an alternative to welfare. Sets forth administrative and regulatory requirements for such program. Requires a report on the program to specified congressional committees.
Resolution· SCONRESS.Con.Res. 91 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Commission on Broadcasting to the People's Republic of China (created in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for FY 1992 and 1993) should be appointed expeditiously and should report an implementation plan to the Congress and the President within 365 days of enactment of such Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 4280 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1992
Health Care Choice and Access Improvement Act of 1992 - Title I: Family Health and Wellness Savings Plan - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals a tax deduction for contributions made to a medical care savings account established for the benefit of an eligible individual. Defines an eligible individual as one who: (1) is not covered by an employer-provided group health plan; or (2) is covered by a qualified employer-provided catastrophic coverage health plan but not by any other health plan. Allows such deduction in arriving at adjusted gross income. Includes any non-medical distributions from such an account in gross income and assesses an additional tax. Establishes an excise tax for excess contributions to medical care savings accounts. Allows the transfer of unused amounts in flexible spending accounts of cafeteria plans to medical savings accounts. Allows the full deduction for medical, dental, etc., expenses for amounts paid for qualified catastrophic coverage health plans. Title II: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance and Plans - Subtitle A: Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance - Provides for the treatment of qualified long-term care insurance as accident and health insurance for purposes of taxation of life insurance companies. Allows employers to offer employees qualified long-term care insurance as a tax-free fringe benefit. Excludes from gross income amounts withdrawn from individual retirement accounts or qualified pension plans with cash or deferred arrangements for purposes of purchasing long-term care insurance. Permits the non-taxable exchange of life insurance policies for long-term care insurance in the case of an individual who has attained age 59 1/2. Subtitle B: Employer Funding of Medical Benefits - Revises provisions governing medical benefits for retired employees and their spouses and dependents. Provides a tax deduction for employer contributions to health benefits accounts. Defines funded reserve accounts and vesting requirements to qualify for such tax deduction. Establishes a 50-percent tax penalty on early distributions of medical benefits and a 100-percent excise tax on allocated assets that are not used to provide retiree health benefits. Subtitle C: Reverse Mortgage Insurance for Older Americans - Amends the National Housing Act to limit the total number of mortgages to be insured and the amount of such insurance (up to 95 percent of the value of median housing values) under the demonstration program of insurance of home equity conversion mortgages for elderly homeowners. Subtitle D: Income Tax Credits - Allows a $2,000 per qualified person tax credit for taxpayers who maintain a household which includes a parent, grandparent, dependent, or spouse who requires specified custodial care. Allows a tax credit for 25 percent of the long-term care expenses of certain independent persons (not in excess of $2,000 per qualified person per taxable year). Subtitle E: Treatment of Accelerated Death Benefits - Allows: (1) gross income-excludable payment of accelerated death benefits from a life insurance policy to an individual who is terminally ill or confined to a nursing home; and (2) insurance companies to treat qualified accelerated death benefits as life insurance. Subtitle F: Federal National Long-Term Care Reinsurance Corporation - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for the incorporation of the Federal National Long-Term Care Reinsurance Corporation (Corporation), which shall not be an agency or establishment of the U.S. Government. Requires the Corporation to confine its activities to reinsuring insurance companies for extraordinary loss in the issuance or payment of qualified long-term care insurance benefits. Title III: Malpractice Liability Reform - Declares that a State meets the requirements of these provisions if it has enacted laws or regulations: (1) regarding health care liability actions, allowing several but not joint liability for noneconomic damages, limiting the dollar amount of noneconomic damages, mandating offsets for collateral source payments, regulating the treatment of payments for future economic losses, limiting attorney's fees, and providing special rules for certain obstetric services; (2) implementing at least one mediation or pretrial screening panel; and (3) taking specified steps regarding quality assurance reform. Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to reduce by a specified percentage certain payments to hospitals (with regard to Medicare) and States (with regard to Medicaid) in States not in compliance and makes additional payments to hospitals in States in compliance. Amends Federal law relating to tort claims against the United States to set forth special rules applicable to health care liability actions, including allowing several but not joint liability for noneconomic damages, limiting the dollar amount of noneconomic damages, mandating offsets for collateral source payments, and regulating the treatment of payments for future economic losses. Amends the Public Health Service Act to include entities receiving Federal funds under provisions relating to migrant health centers, community health centers, or health services for the homeless, and officers, employees, or contractors of such entities who are licensed health care practitioners, in the coverage of provisions regulating civil actions for injury resulting from medical or related functions against commissioned officers or employees of the Public Health Service. Subrogates to the United States any insurance claim such an entity or person has. Prohibits grants under provisions relating to migrant or community health centers or health services for the homeless unless the applicant has: (1) implemented policies and procedures to assure against malpractice; (2) reviewed the professional credentials, claims history, and other information regarding its licensed health care practitioners; and (3) no history of claims against it under such provisions relating to officers and employees of the Public Health Service, or has cooperated with the Attorney General in defending against such claims and has taken corrective action. Empowers the Attorney General, if certain conditions are met, to determine that an individual practitioner shall not be deemed a Public Health Service employee for purposes of these provisions. Prohibits hospitals from denying admitting privileges to an otherwise qualified health care provider who is an officer, employee, or contractor of such an entity. Title IV: Working Americans Access to Health Care - Subtitle A: Increase in Small Employer Access to Affordable Health Insurance - Provides for the development by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) of model standards regarding certain requirements of this title. Allows more stringent State standards. Preempts State law concerning a small employer health benefit plan that meets portions of those standards relating to initial writing, premium increases, and market reentry. Requires each small employer carrier to offer a MedEquity plan, defined as: (1) providing only basic benefits; (2) being guaranteed issue; (3) meeting initial writing, premium increase, and market reentry standards; and (4) providing for cost containment. Sets forth special rules for health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Requires each MedEquity plan to: (1) accept every small employer that applies; and (2) enroll every full time employee that applies and their spouse and dependents. Sets forth special rules for HMOs. Provides for development by NAIC of models for cost containment features in MedEquity plans, including a managed care plan. Requires each State to specify the model that will be applied to MedEquity plans in the State. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) initial writing of policies (including regarding pre-existing conditions, premiums, disclosures of rating practices, actuarial certification, requirements to register with the State, and minimum participation); and (2) renewal (including renewability, premium increases, and market reentry). Provides for development by NAIC of models for reinsurance mechanisms for individuals and small employers. Requires establishment in each State of one or more mechanisms. Allows each State insurance commissioner to require each employer health benefit plan to be registered with that official. Defines "small employer" as having three to 49 employees. Considers an association to be a qualified small employer purchasing group if certain requirements are met, including that: (1) its membership consist solely of employers with not more than 100 employees; and (2) the association have not fewer than 100 employers. Preempts, with regard to such groups and their employer members: (1) State mandates regarding health plan offerings; (2) State or local taxes on premiums received from the employers; and (3) certain provisions of State law relating to managed care. Subtitle B: Equalization of Tax Benefits for Self-employed Persons Under Certain Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 25 percent to 100 percent the business expense deduction of health insurance costs for self-employed individuals participating in small employer purchasing groups. Makes such deduction permanent law. Subtitle C: Managed Care Rights - Preempts State law relating to reimbursement rates, selective contracting, differential financial incentives, and utilization review methods. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on the benefits and cost effectiveness of managed care. Subtitle D: Study and Report - Mandates a report to the Congress on the impact of this title on access to health care, the number of employees of small employers without health coverage, small employer health plan costs, and MedEquity plan effectiveness.
Bill· HRH.R. 4287 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1992
Tax Fairness and Economic Growth Act of 1992 - Declares that any change in budget authority, outlays, or receipts resulting from this Act shall not be considered for sequestration or pay-as-you-go calculations under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Title I: Middle Class Tax Relief - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit for 20 percent of a taxpayer's social security taxes, limited to $200 ($400 in the case of a joint return) and applicable to years beginning after December 31, 1991, and before January 1, 1994. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit for interest paid or incurred on a qualified education loan for a six-year period (whether or not consecutive). Limits such credit to $300 per individual whose education expenses are being financed by such loan. Allows higher limits for taxpayers with large amounts of education loan interest (not to exceed $500). Sets forth limits on the gross income of taxpayers eligible for such credit. Allows the carryover of unused credit limited to the fifth taxable year for which the credit was originally determined. Allows penalty-free withdrawals from individual retirement plans for a first-home purchase. Limits such distribution to $10,000, or other applicable amount if previous distributions have been made. Allows penalty-free withdrawals from qualified retirement plans for qualified higher education expenses and deductible medical expenses. Declares that for purposes of medical expenses all children, grandchildren, and ancestors of the employee or the employee's spouse are to be treated as dependents. Allows the one-time exclusion on gain from the sale of a principal residence to be taken if the taxpayer is permanently and totally disabled. Indexes the exclusion amount for inflation. Allows a taxpayer to include farm property contiguous to such principal residence in the exclusion, if such property is being actively farmed. Excludes from the gross income of an individual the following qualified employer-provided transportation fringe benefits: (1) the value of transportation in a commuter highway vehicle between the employee's residence and workplace; and (2) up to $60 per month of the value of any transit pass entitling the employee to transportation on mass transit facilities. Provides that the exclusion from gross income for the working condition fringe benefit includes employer-provided parking on or near a location from which the employee commutes to work by mass transportation, by vanpool, or by carpool. Extends the deduction for health insurance costs for self-employed individuals from June 30, 1992, to December 31, 1992. Title II: Job Creation, Growth, and Investment Incentives - Subtitle A: Temporary Investment Incentives - Increases the amount of certain depreciable business assets by small business for taxable years 1992 and 1993. Permits an additional depreciation allowance for the purchase of new equipment as investment property after February 1, 1992, and before January 1, 1993, which is placed in service before July 1, 1993. Reduces the basis adjustment of such property by the amount of the additional allowance. Allows such deduction in determining the alternative minimum tax. Subtitle B: Capital Gain Provisions - Requires indexing, based on the consumer price index, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible property that is a capital asset or property used in a trade or business) acquired on or after February 1, 1992, and held for more than one year at the time of sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain. Provides that gains and losses from the disposition of indexed assets are not taken into account as investment income in computing the limitation on the deductibility of investment interest. Sets forth a special rule to recapture the entire amount of depreciation for such indexed property. Allows noncorporate taxpayers to elect to recognize gain on readily tradable securities held on February 1, 1992. Permits both corporate and noncorporate taxpayers an income tax exclusion of 50 percent of the net capital gain from an investment in the stock of a qualified small business if the stock is issued after February 1, 1992, and held for at least five years. Adds the amount of the exclusion for capital gain from such investments as a tax preference item for purposes of determining alternative minimum tax liability. Subtitle C: Real Estate Provisions - Part I: Modification of Passive Loss Rules - Provides for the treatment of rental and nonrental real estate activities under the limitations on losses from passive activities. Part II: Provisions Relating to Real Estate Investments by Pension Funds - Modifies exceptions to the exclusion of real property acquired by a qualified organization from the meaning of acquisition indebtedness. Makes certain exceptions inapplicable to sales out of foreclosure by a financial institution. Applies the meaning of acquisition indebtedness to investments in certain large partnerships where the principal purpose of partnership allocation is not tax avoidance. Repeals the special rule for publicly traded partnerships with respect to the treatment of unrelated business taxable income. Permits a tax-exempt title-holding company to receive unrelated business taxable income of up to ten percent of its gross income, if the unrelated income is incidentally derived from the holding of real property. Excludes from unrelated business taxable income any gains from the sale, exchange or other disposition of real property acquired from financial institutions that are in conservatorship or receivership. Provides for the tax treatment of pension fund investments in real estate investment trusts. Subtitle D: Extension of Certain Expiring Tax Provisions - Makes permanent after June 30, 1992, the tax credit for increasing research activities and the low-income housing credit. Allows certain building owners to elect to use apartment size or family size in determining the credit's gross rent limitation. Makes permanent after June 30, 1992: (1) the targeted jobs credit; and (2) the authority to issue qualified mortgage bonds and qualified mortgage credit certificates. Provides for the tax treatment of resale price control and subsidy lien programs. Makes permanent after June 30, 1992: (1) the authority to issue qualified small issue bonds to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property; and (2) the tax exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance. Postpones the termination date of the excise tax on certain vaccines and the authority to make expenditures from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study certain aspects of the Trust Fund and report to specified congressional committees. Amends the Railroad Retirement Solvency Act of 1983 to make permanent the transfer of proceeds from the tax on certain railroad retirement benefits from the general fund of the Treasury to the Railroad Retirement Account. Subtitle E: Modifications to Minimum Tax - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the alternative minimum tax provision which treats as a preference item the amount by which the value of contributed capital gain property exceeds the basis of the property. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to develop and implement a procedure to determine the value of donated property for income tax purposes prior to the charitable transfer. Restricts the determination of adjusted current earnings for purposes of computing alternative minimum taxable income to property placed in service after 1989 and before February 1, 1992. Subtitle F: Repeal of Certain Luxury Excise Taxes; Imposition of Tax on Diesel Fuel Used in Noncommercial Motorboats - Repeals the luxury excise tax on boats, aircraft, jewelry, and furs. Modifies the luxury excise tax on automobiles to index the $30,000 threshold for inflation occurring after 1990 and make such tax applicable to the first retail sale. Terminates such tax after 1999. Extends the current diesel fuel excise tax to diesel fuel used by motorboats. Exempts vessels used for commercial fishing, transportation for compensation or hire, or for business use other than predominantly for entertainment, amusement, or recreation. Retains excise taxes for diesel fuels used in motor boats in the General Treasury. (Current law requires transfer of such amounts to the Highway Trust Fund and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund). Subtitle G: Urban Tax Enterprise Zones and Rural Development Investment Zones - Declares it to be the purpose of this Act to establish a demonstration program of providing incentives for the creation of tax enterprise zones in order to: (1) revitalize economicaly and physically distressed areas; (2) promote meaningful employment for zone residents; and (3) encourage individuals to reside in the zones in which they are employed. Part I: Designation and Tax Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the designation of tax enterprise zones during calendar years 1993 through 1995: (1) by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in the case of an urban tax enterprise zone; and (2) by the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, in the case of a rural development investment zone. Sets forth the eligibility criteria for designation of urban tax enterprise zones, including: (1) a population of not less than 4,000; (2) pervasive poverty, unemployment, and general distress; (3) a specified size; (4) a high unemployment rate and poverty rate; and (5) a required course of action designed to reduce the various burdens borne by employers or employees in the area. Sets forth the eligibility criteria for designation of rural development investment zones, including: (1) a population of not less than 1,000; (2) an area of general distress; (3) a specified size; (4) a high unemployment rate, poverty rate, and job loss rate; and (5) a required course of action designed to reduce the various burdens borne by employers or employees in the area. Provides that a course of action, which may not be federally funded, may include: (1) a reduction of tax rates or fees; (2) an increase in public services; (3) a reduction in government paperwork requirements; (4) business community commitments to provide jobs and job training; (5) special preference to minority contractors; (6) gifts of land for the operation of neighborhood businesses; (7) pooled health insurance; (8) loans by local financial institutions for business start-ups; and (9) special preference to low-income housing projects and private activity bonds. Allows an enterprise zone employment credit to small employers as a general business credit of 7.5 percent of the qualified zone wages. Allows such credit for the first five years of the employee's employment. Allows a deduction for the purchase of enterprise zone stock paid in cash. Limits such amount to: (1) $25,000 for any taxable year; (2) the overall limitation on zone incentives; or (3) $250,000 during the taxpayer's lifetime. Provides an additional depreciation allowance for the first taxable year that the property is placed in service. Establishes an annual overall limitation on the amount of tax incentives that can be provided with respect to an enterprise zone. Part II: Studies - Requires the Secretary and the Comptroller General each to report to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance on the effectiveness of the incentives provided by this subtitle in achieving its purposes. Title III: Revenue Increases - Subtitle A: Treatment of Wealthy Individuals - Creates a 35 percent tax bracket for certain higher incomes. Increases the tentative minimum tax for taxpayers other than corporations. Increases the individual minimum tax rate. Imposes a surtax on incomes in excess of $1,000,000, including estates and trusts. Delays for two years the expiration date of the overall limitation on itemized deductions and the phaseout of personal exemptions for high-income taxpayers. Disallows a deduction as a trade or business expense remuneration to certain employees in excess of $1,000,000. Subtitle B: Administrative Provisions - Modifies rules with respect to the failure of individuals and corporations to pay estimated income tax. Expands the 45-day interest-free period for refunding tax overpayments to all returns, as well as to amended returns and claims for refunds. Provides that if interest is not refunded within 45 days after the taxpayer files an amended return or claim for refund, interest will be paid only for periods after the date on which the return or claim is filed. Subtitle C: Other Revenue Provisions - Requires taking into account: (1) certain Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) assistance as compensation for loss; and (2) any FSLIC assistance for any debt for determining whether such debt is worthless and in determining the amount of any addition to a reserve for bad debts arising from such worthlessness or partial worthlessness. Requires the depreciation deduction for certain residential rental property to be determined by using a recovery period of 31 years. Requires such deduction for nonresidential real property to be determined by using a recovery period of 40 years. Increases the mileage requirement for the moving expense deduction. Requires a partner who contributes appreciated property to a partnership to include pre-contribution gain in income to the extent that the value or other property distributed by the partnership exceeds his adjusted basis in his partnership interest. Requires any dealer in securities that holds any security or hedge at the close of any taxable year to: (1) recognize gain or loss as if the security or hedge were sold on the last business day of the taxable year; and (2) take into account any such gain or loss in determining gross income for such year (the mark-to-market requirement). Provides that the uniform cost capitalization rules do not apply to any security or hedge to which the mark-to-market requirement applies. Title IV: Simplification Provisions - Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Individuals - Repeals the supplemental young child credit and the supplemental health insurance credit. Increases the earned income credit for taxpayers with two or more qualifying children. Allows gain to be rolled over from one residence to another in the order the residences are purchased and used, regardless of reasons for the sale of the old residence. Sets forth a two-year residence rule for taxpayers who sell a residence pursuant to a divorce or marital separation for purposes of determining the rollover of gain on the sale of a principal residence. Provides an exception to the passive loss rules if the loss does not exceed $200. Permits the payment of taxes by credit cards to the extent provided by regulations. Provides for inflation adjustment of the dollar amounts involved in the election to claim a child's unearned income on the parent's return. Establishes a foreign tax credit limitation for individuals whose gross income is from sources outside the United States, consists entirely of qualified passive income, and the amount of creditable foreign taxes does not exceed $200. Excludes certain personal transactions from foreign currency rules. Limits the exclusion of combat pay from withholding to the amount excludable from gross income. Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on expanded access to simplified individual income tax returns and other actions taken to simplify them. Provides that the amount allowed as a deduction to rural mail carriers for the business expense of a vehicle shall be equal to qualified reimbursements. Amends the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 to repeal the rule on the business use of automobiles by rural mail carriers. Exempts from the luxury excise tax parts or accessories installed for use of passenger vehicles by disabled individuals. Subtitle B: Pension Simplification - Part I: Simplified Distribution Rules - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow distributions from qualified pension plans to be rolled over tax-free to an individual retirement account or another qualified plan or annuity. Repeals: (1) the $5,000 limitation on the exclusion of employees' death benefits; (2) the five-year forward income averaging for lump-sum distributions; and (3) the exclusion of net unrealized appreciation of employer securities. Establishes a method of taxing annuity payments by taking into account the investment in the contract and the number of anticipated payments. Requires qualified plans to allow participants to elect to have distributions transferred directly to another qualified plan. Part II: Increased Access to Pension Plans - Establishes a simplified employee pension plan that allows salary reduction arrangements for employers of fewer than 100 employees. Allows nongovernmental and tax-exempt organizations to participate in cash or deferred arrangements. Authorizes the Secretary, as a condition of sponsorship, to prescribe rules defining the duties and responsibilities of sponors of certain master and prototype retirement plans. Part III: Miscellaneous Simplification - Revises the definition of a leased employee to mean one whose services are performed under the control of a service recipient, instead of one whose services are historically performed by employees. Modifies the two-part nondiscrimination test for elective contributions under cash or deferred arrangements by permitting the use of the average deferral percentage for nonhighly compensated employees for the preceding year to be used in determining the permitted average deferral percentage for highly compensated employees for the current year. Provides alternative methods of satisfying the special nondiscrimination requirements applicable to elective deferrals and employer matching contributions. Redefines the term "highly compensated employee" for pension, profit sharing, stock bonus plan, etc. purposes. Makes such an employee one who is a five-percent owner (as under current law) or who has compensation from the employer in excess of $50,000 (or $62,345, as adjusted for 1992). Provides a special rule where no employees are treated as highly compensated. Provides that the cost-of-living adjustment with respect to any calendar year is based on the increase in the applicable index as of the close of the calendar quarter ending September of the preceding calendar year. Requires the rounding of such amounts to the nearest $1,000, except that elective deferrals and elective contributions to simplified employee pensions are rounded to the nearest $100. Permits certain employers to elect an alternative full funding limitation with respect to any defined benefit plan based solely on the accrued liability under such plan. Requires the Secretary to adjust the 150-percent current liability full funding limit for other plans if there is a revenue shortfall. Allows rural cooperative plans which include cash or deferred arrangements to make distributions to participants after attainment of age 59 1/2. Expands current rules treating union air pilots as a separate class of employees for minimum coverage requirements to include nonunion air pilots as well. Excludes from such special treatment air pilots whose principal duties are not customarily performed aboard aircraft in flight. Eliminates the special full vesting rule after ten years of service for employees subject to collective bargaining agreements under multiemployer plans. Provides special rules for distributions of deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Permits in-service distributions of accounts that do not exceed a specified amount if no amount has been deferred under such account for two years and there has been no prior distribution under the cash-out rule. Increases the number of elections that can be made with respect to the time distributions must begin. Provides for the indexing of the dollar limit on deferrals. Modifies the treatment of governmental plans with repect to limits on contributions and benefits. Allows excess assets in qualified black lung benefit trusts to be used to pay accident and health benefits or premiums for insurance for such benefits for retired coal miners and their spouses and dependents. Provides that, for purposes of the excise tax, an employer reversion does not include certain amounts paid to the Federal Government by reason of certain government contracting regulations. Requires continuation of health coverage for employees, including retired employees, of failed financial institutions. Subtitle C: Treatment of Large Partnerships - Part I: General Provisions - Establishes special rules for large partnerships (250 or more partners) with respect to: (1) determining the income tax of a partner; (2) computing the taxable income of a large partnership; and (3) treatment of contributed property. Provides that a large partnership does not include one where: (1) substantially all of the partners (including retired partners, spouses, and certain personal service corporations) perform substantial services in addition to partnership activities; or (2) 25 percent or more of the average percentage of partnership assets consist of oil or gas properties. Establishes special rules for partnerships holding oil and gas properties. Establishes simplified audit procedures for large partnerships. Requires a partner's return to be consistent with the partnership return. Allows partnerships to take adjustments into account through an imputed underpayment procedure or a flow-through-to-partners procedure. Authorizes and directs the Secretary to make adjustments at the partnership level in any partnership item to the extent necessary to have such item treated in the manner required, after notifying the partnership of such adjustment through certified or registered mail. Specifies certain restrictions on such adjustments. Provides for judicial review of such adjustment with the Tax Court, the appropriate district court, or the Claims Court. Prohibits any adjustments from being made three years after the later of the date on which the return was filed, or the last day for filing such return, except in specified cases. Allows a partnership to file a request for an administrative adjustment of partnership items during such time periods and provides for judicial review where such request is not allowed in full. Requires large partnerships to furnish information returns to partners by the first March 15 following the close of the partnership's tax year. Authorizes the Secretary to require large partnerships, or any other partnership with 250 or more partners, to file their returns on magnetic media. Part II: Provisions Related to TEFRA Partnership Proceedings - Revises and sets forth new provisions relating to TEFRA (Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982) partnership proceedings. Provides for a declaratory judgment procedure in the Tax Court for treatment of non-partnership items with respect to an oversheltered return. Describes an oversheltered return as one which shows no taxable income and shows a net loss from partnership items. Provides for the partnership return to be determinative of the audit procedure to be followed. Suspends the period of limitations for making assessments for a partner who is named in a bankruptcy petition. Provides a special rule for a tax matters partner in bankruptcy. Permits a small partnership to have a C corporation as a partner and remain exempt from unified audit rules. Excludes a partial settlement agreement from the one-year limitation on assessment. Provides that if a TEFRA statute extension agreement is entered into, that agreement also extends the statute of limitations for filing refund claims until six months after the expiration of the limitations period for assessments. Provides a prepayment forum and a refund forum for raising the innocent spouse defense in TEFRA cases. Provides that partnership level proceedings include a determination of the applicability of penalties at the partnership level. Allows partners to raise any partner-level defenses in a refund forum. Specifies that an action to enjoin premature assessments of deficiencies attributable to partnership items may be brought in the Tax Court. Permits a party to appear before a court for the sole purpose of asserting that the period of limitations for assessing any tax attributable to partnership items has expired for that person. Provides for the treatment of premature petitions filed by notice partners or five-percent groups. Provides that the amount of the bond to stay assessment and collection should be based on the Tax Court's estimate of the aggregate liability of the parties to the action (and not all of the partners in the partnership). Suspends interest where there is a delay in computational adjustment resulting from TEFRA settlements. Subtitle D: Foreign Provisions - Part I: Simplification of Treatment of Passive Foreign Corporations - Repeals foreign personal holding company rules and foreign investment company rules. Exempts foreign corporations from the accumulated earnings tax and personal holding company rules. Provides for the treatment of personal service contracts under controlled foreign corporation rules. Replaces repealed provisions with revised rules for passive foreign corporations. Provides for taxing U.S. income on stock in passive foreign corporations through three alternative methods: (1) mark-to-market; (2) current inclusion; and (3) interest charge on excess distributions. Subjects less-than-25-percent shareholders of passive foreign corporations that are not U.S.-controlled, and who do not elect current inclusion, to the mark-to-market method or the interest-charge method for taxing income. Provides that, if a passive foreign corporation is U.S.-controlled, then every U.S. person owning stock in such corporation is subject to income inclusions under a modified version of controlled foreign corporation rules. Declares with regard to the mark-to-market method that: (1) if the fair market value of stock exceeds its adjusted basis, then the U.S. person shall include in gross income an amount equal to the amount of the excess; and (2) if the adjusted basis of stock exceeds the fair market value then the person shall be allowed a deduction equal to the lesser of the amount of such excess, or the unreversed inclusions. Describes a passive foreign corporation as any foreign corporation if: (1) 60 percent or more of its gross income is passive income; (2) the average percentage of assets which produce passive income or which are held for the production of passive income is at least 50 percent; or (3) such corporation is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, either as a management company or as a unit investment trust. Provides for the treatment of mark-to-market gain for purposes of the excise tax on undistributed income of regulated investment companies. Part II: Treatment of Controlled Foreign Corporations - Provides that if a controlled foreign corporation sells or exchanges stocks in other foreign corporations, then gain recognized on such sale or exchange shall be included in the gross income of such corporation as a dividend to the same extent that it wold have been included if such corporation were a U.S. person. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe simplified methods for determining the amount of increase of limitations on the foreign tax credit. Revises provisions concerning: (1) determining pro rata share of gain from certain sales or exchanges of stock in certain foreign corporations; (2) basis adjustments in stock held by lower-tier foreign corporations; (3) determination of previously taxed income in redemptions through use of related corporations; and (4) treatment of branch profits tax exemptions or reductions Extends the application of the indirect foreign tax credit to certain controlled corporations below the third tier. Part III: Other Provisions - Establishes new rules for the translation of certain accrued foreign taxes. Modifies present rules for translating all other foreign taxes. Permits the use of the simplified limitation on the foreign tax credit in determining the alternative minimum tax foreign tax credit. Repeals the excise tax on outbound transfers to avoid income tax. Requires the full recognition of gain on a transfer of property by a U.S. person to a foreign corporation as paid-in surplus, or as a contribution to capital, or to a foreign estate, trust, or partnership. Allows the Secretary, in lieu of applying the full recognition rule, to provide regulations with principles similar to the principles for foreign corporations transferring property from the United States. Requires recognition of income under regulations issued to prevent Federal tax avoidance in the case of any corporate organization, reorganization or liquidation in which the status of a foreign corporation as a corporation is a condition for nonrecognition by a party to the transaction. Subtitle E: Treatment of Intangibles - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an amortization deduction with respect to certain intangible property that is acquired and held by a taxpayer in connection with the conduct of a trade or business or an activity engaged in for the production of income. Provides for determining such deduction by amortizing the adjusted basis (for purposes of determining gain) of such intangible ratably over the 14-year period beginning with the month in which the intangible was acquired. Disallows any other depreciation or amortization deduction with respect to such intangible. Describes an amortizable intangible as: (1) goodwill; (2) going concern value; (3) certain specified types of intangible property that generally relate to workforce, information base, know-how, customers, suppliers, or other similar items; (4) any license, permit, or other right granted by a governmental unit, agency, or instrumentality; (5) any covenant not to compete (or other arrangement to the extent that the arrangement has substantially the same effect as a covenant not to compete) entered into in connection with the direct or indirect acquisition of an interest in a trade or business or substantial portion thereof; and (6) any franchise, trademark, or trade name. Excludes from treatment as an amortizable intangible: (1) any interest in a corporation, partnership, trust, or estate; (2) any interest under an existing futures contract, foreign currency contract, notional principal contract, interest rate swap, or other similar financial contract; (3) any interest in land; (4) certain computer software; (5) certain interests in films, sound recordings, video tapes, books, or other similar property; (6) certain rights to receive tangible property or services; (7) certain interests in patents or copyrights; (8) any interest under an existing lease of tangible property; (9) any interest under an existing indebtedness (except for the deposit base and similar items of a financial institution); and (10) a franchise to engage in any professional sport, and any item acquired in connection in such a franchise. Sets forth special rules governing the application of the amortization deduction. Provides for the treatment of certain computer software and leased property depreciation deductions excluded from the amortization rules. Continues the present-law treatment of certain contingent amounts that are paid or incurred on account of the transfer of a franchise, trademark, or trade name. Provides for the treatment of assumption reinsurance transactions of insurance companies. Provides for the treatment of certain payments to retired or deceased partners. Subtitle F: Other Income Tax Provisions - Part I: Provisions Relating to Subchapter S Corporations - Provides for determining whether a corporation has one class of stock, thus qualifying as an S corporation. Allows the Secretary to validate an invalid S corporation election by a small business corporation where the failure to properly elect S status was inadvertent or untimely. Provides that adjustments for distributions by an S corporation during a taxable year are taken into account before applying the loss for a year in determining the amount in the accumulated adjustment account. Repeals the rule that treats an S corporation in its capacity as a shareholder of another corporation as an individual. Repeals the rule that an S corporation may not be a member of an affiliated group of corporations. Eliminates the need to keep records of certain generally small amounts of earnings arising before 1983. Provides for the treatment of inherited stock. Part II: Accounting Provisions - Revises the look-back method for long-term contracts and provides that for purposes of such method, only one rate of interest is to apply for each accrual period. Provides a method for capitalizing certain indirect costs. Part III: Provisions Relating to Regulated Investment Companies - Repeals the requirement that less than 30 percent of the gross income of a regulated investment company be derived from the sale or disposition of any of the following which were held for less than three months: (1) stocks or securities; (2) options, futures, or forward contracts (other than those on foreign currencies); or (3) certain foreign currencies. Requires a broker to include on an information return with respect to gross proceeds from any disposition of stock in an open-end regulated investment company: (1) the basis of the stock disposed of; and (2) the portion of gross proceeds attributable to stock held for more than one year and the portion not so attributable (using a first-in, first-out basis). Defines an open-end regulated investment company as one which offers for sale or has outstanding any redeemable security of which it is the issuer. Sets forth special rules for determining the basis of stock in such companies. Permits a common trust fund to transfer substantially all of its assets to a regulated investment company without gain or loss being recognized by the fund or its participants under specified circumstances. Part IV: Tax-Exempt Bond Provisions - Repeals the $100,000 limitation on unspent proceeds under the one-year exception from arbitrage rebate requirements. Exempts earnings on bond proceeds invested in bona fide debt service funds from the arbitrage rebate requirements and the penalty requirement of the 24-month exception if the spending requirements of that exception are otherwise satisfied. Extends the initial temporary period for construction bonds for a period of 12 months if at least 85 percent of the available construction proceeds are spent within the original temporary period and the issuer reasonably expects to spend the remaining proceeds within the 12-month extension period. Provides for the treatment of tax or revenue anticipation bonds as separate issues. Repeals the five-percent disproportionate private business use test for private activity bonds. Increases the annual issuance limit for small issuers whose governmental bonds are not subject to rebate. Repeals the debt service-based limitation on investment in certain nonpurpose investments. Repeals certain expirated provisions. Part V: Election of Alternative Taxable Years - Revises provisions with respect to electing alternative taxable years. Allows a partnership, S corporation, or personal service corporation to elect a taxable year other than the required taxable year if the annual financial statements (if any) of the entity used for credit purposes or provided to the partners, shareholders, or other proprietors of the entity are based on a fiscal year ending in the same month as the taxable year elected. Increases the amount of the required payment that must be made by a partnership or S corporation that elects a taxable year other than the required taxable year. Requires an initial payment for any taxable year that a partnership or S corporation first makes or changes a taxable year election to increase the deferral period. Modifies the minimum distribution requirement for personal service corporations that elect a taxable year other than the required taxable year. Part VI: Other Provisions - Provides for treating certain revocable trusts as estates. Revises the provision that the taxable year of a partnership closes with respect to a partner whose entire interest in the partnership terminates, whether by death, liquidation or otherwise. Repeals the adjusted current earnings rule relating to the treatment of built-in-losses after a change of ownership. Subtitle G: Estate and Gift Tax Provisions - Allows the right of recovery with respect to qualified terminable interest property (for which a marital deduction is allowed) to be waived in a will only by specific reference. Provides that a transfer from a revocable trust within three years of death does not result in the inclusion of the transfer in the gross estate if it is a gift worth $10,000 or less. Revises the qualified terminable interest rules with respect to a trust and the marital deduction. Revises provisions concerning estate bequests to a surviving spouse to declare that a "specific portion" of such estate only includes a portion determined on a fractional or percentage basis. Provides that a trust created before the enactment of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990 is treated as satisfying the withholding requirement if its trust instrument requires that all trustees be U.S. citizens or domestic corporations. Directs the Secretary to prescribe procedures which provide that executors will have the opportunity to submit subsequent information on a recapture agreement in the filing of an estate tax return with respect to the special use valuation of farm property. Subtitle H: Excise Tax Simplification - Part I: Fuel Tax Provisions - Consolidates diesel and aviation fuel tax provisions. Consolidates the user credit and refund provisions for the fuels excise taxes. Combines the three refund procedures for fuels taxes into a uniform refund procedure. Eliminates the waiver requirement for fuels tax refunds for cropdusters and other fertilizer applicators. Provides exceptions to the mandatory information return requirement for certain sales of diesel and aviation fuels. Part II: Provisions Related to Distilled Spirits, Wines, and Beer - Makes tax refunds available for imported bottled distilled spirits returned to distilled spirits plants. Permits records of exportation to be maintained by the exporter for purposes of canceling or crediting bonds furnished when distilled spirits are removed from bonded premises. Permits distilled spirits plants to maintain records of their activities at locations other than the premises where the operations covered by the records are performed. Allows beer to be transferred without payment of tax from a brewery to a distilled spirits plant to be used in the production of distilled spirits regardless of whether the brewery is contiguous to the distilled spirits plant. Repeals the requirement that wholesale liquor dealers post a sign outside their place of business indicating that they are wholesale liquor dealers. Repeals the requirement that wine returned to bonded premises be unmerchantable in order for tax to be refunded to the proprietor of the bonded wine celler to which the wine is delivered. Allows the use of ameliorating material in certain wines made exclusively from a fruit or berry. Allows domestically-produced beer to be withdrawn from the place of production without payment of tax for the official or family use of representatives of foreign governments or public international organizations. Allows beer to be removed from a brewery without payment of tax for purposes of destruction. Allows drawback on exported beer without submission of records. Provides for imported beer in bulk containers to be withdrawn from customs custody for transfer to a brewery without payment of tax. Part III: Other Excise Tax Provisions - Authorizes the exemption from registration requirements of certain tax-free sales. Repeals expired provisions concerning piggy-back trailers and deep seabed mining. Subtitle I: Administrative Provisions - Part I: General Provisions - Includes railroad retirement taxes under rules for deposits of social security and withheld income taxes. Revises such rules to change required days of deposits, take into account small depositors, and provide a safe harbor for depositors with a shortfall. Amends the Railroad Retirement Solvency Act of 1983 to conform to such revisions. Changes the threshold for withholding and paying social security taxes from $50 a quarter to $300 a year for domestic service in a private home. Requires employers of household employees only to report any social security or Federal unemployment tax obligation for wages paid to such employees on their income tax returns. Includes a household employer's social security and employment taxes in the estimated tax provisions. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with States to collect State unemployment taxes in the same manner. Revises the rules on required installments of estimated income tax by small corporations where such corporations have no tax liability for a preceding year. Allows corporations to disregard any letter or notice of assessment or proposed assessment of tax if the deficiency or proposed deficiency is less than $100,000. Incorporates into the general penalty structure the penalties for failure to provide information reports relating to pension payments. Allows reproductions of returns in digital image format by the Internal Revenue Service. Requires the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study of available digital image technology and report to specified congressional committees. Repeals: (1) the requirement to register tax shelters; (2) the authority to disclose whether a prospective juror has been audited; and (3) special audit provisions regarding the tax treatment of subchapter S corporations. Provides that the statute of limitations with respects to the return of a taxpayer begins running from the time the taxpayer's return is filed, not someone else's return (where the taxpayer has received an item of income, gain, loss, credit or deduction from that other person). Part II: Tax Court Procedures - Provides that an order to refund an overpayment is appealable in the same manner as a decision of the Tax Court. Declares that the Tax Court shall not have jurisdiction over the validity or merits of the credits or offsets that reduce or eliminate the refund to which the taxpayer was otherwise entitled. Provides that a taxpayer who seeks an award of administrative costs must apply for such costs within 90 days of the date on which the taxpayer was determined to be a prevailing party. Provides that a taxpayer who appeals a denial of administrative costs must petition the Tax Court within 90 days after the date that the IRS mails the denial notice. Provides that a taxpayer must file a motion (rather than a petition) to seek a redetermination of interest in the Tax Court. Provides that the net worth limitations applicable to individuals also apply to estates and trusts. Provides that individuals who file a joint tax return shall be treated as one individual for purposes of computing the net worth limitations. Part III: Authority for Certain Cooperative Agreements - Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with State tax authorities for purposes of enhancing joint tax administration. Title V: Taxpayer Bill of Rights - Subtitle A: Additional Safeguards to Protect Taxpayers' Rights - Part I: Taxpayers' Advocate - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the Office of Taxpayers' Advocate, headed by the Taxpayers' Advocate, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Office to: (1) assist taxpayers in resolving problems with the IRS; (2) identify areas in which taxpayers have problems in dealings with the IRS; (3) propose changes in the administrative practices of the IRS to mitigate such problems; and (4) identify potential legislative changes which may be appropriate to mitigate such problems. Requires the Taxpayers' Advocate to report annually to specified congressional committees on Office activities. Requires the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to establish procedures requiring a formal response to all recommendations submitted to the Commissioner by the Taxpayers' Advocate. Authorizes the terms of a Taxpayer Assistance Order to require the Secretary to take certain actions (currently, only to cease or refrain from taking such actions). Part II: Modifications to Installment Agreement Provisions - Requires prior notification to taxpayers under an installment agreement to pay tax liability before altering, modifying, or terminating such an agreement. Provides for administrative review of denials of requests for installment agreements. Suspends the failure to pay penalty during any period an installment agreement is in effect. Part III: Interest - Extends from ten days to 21 days the period for which interest will not be imposed after notice and demand for payment, if such payment is less than $100,000. Provides for the abatement of interest in the case of an assessment due to the error or delay of an IRS managerial act. Part IV: Joint Returns - Allows the disclosure of collection activities to an individual requesting such information in the case of a joint return where such individual is no longer married to or residing in the same household as the other joint filer. Removes limitations on filing a joint return after filing separate returns. Part V: Collection Activities - Authorizes the Secretary, if it is determined to be in the best interest of the taxpayer and the United States, to: (1) withdraw a notice of a lien; (2) return property that has been levied upon; and (3) offer compromises in civil or criminal cases. Requires the Secretary, at the request of the taxpayer, to make reasonable efforts to notify credit reporting agencies and financial institutions of a withdrawal notice. Part VI: Erroneous and Fraudulent Information Returns - Requires payee statements to provide the phone number of the person providing payment. Establishes civil damages for the fraudulent filing of information returns. Requires the Secretary, when determining a deficiency based on an information return filed by a third party, to take reasonable steps to corroborate the accuracy of such information, when such return is disputed by the taxpayer. Part VII: Modifications to Penalty for Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax - Declares that a person shall not be liable for any penalty for failure to collect and pay over tax if such person: (1) is not a significant owner, or highly compensated employee of the trade or business; (2) notifies the Secretary within ten days after such failure; and (3) such notification was given before any notice by the Secretary with respect to such failure. Requires the Secretary to disclose certain information where more than one person is liable for a penalty. Part VIII: Awarding of Costs and Certain Fees - Makes IRS employees personally liable in certain cases in which the prevailing party is awarded a judgment for legal costs if the court determines that such proceedings resulted from the arbitrary, capricious, or malicious act of such employee. Provides that any failure to agree to an extension of time for the assessment of any tax shall not be taken into account in determining whether a prevailing party has exhausted all administrative remedies. Part IX: Other Provisions - Revises provisions on the required content of tax due, deficiency, and other notices. Provides for the treatment of returns prepared for or executed by the Secretary for purposes of certain tax penalties. Subtitle B: Form Modifications; Studies - Part I: Form Modifications - Directs the Secretary to: (1) ensure that taxpayers are aware of Internal Revenue Code permission to pay tax in installments, extensions of time for payment of tax, and compromises of tax liability; (2) improve procedures for taxpayers to notify the Secretary of changes in names and addresses; (3) include in a specified publication a section on the rights and responsibilities of divorced individuals; (4) ensure that employees are aware of their responsibilities under the Federal tax depository system and that the public is aware of penalties for failure to collect and pay over tax; and (5) notify taxpayers of any payments that cannot be associated with any outstanding tax liability. Part II: Studies - Requires the Secretary to report to the congressional tax-writing committees on: (1) a pilot program for appeals of certain enforcement actions (including lien, levy, and seizure actions); (2) a study of ways to assist the elderly, physically impaired, foreign-language speaking, and other taxpayers with special needs to comply with tax laws; (3) the scope and content of the IRS taxpayer-rights education program for its officers and employees; and (4) cases involving complaints about misconduct of IRS employees and the disposition of such complaints. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the tax-writing committees on: (1) a study of notices of deficiency; (2) the accuracy and clarity of 25 of the most commonly used IRS forms, notices, and publications; and (3) a study of IRS employee-suggestion programs.
Bill· HRH.R. 4283 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1992
Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to set forth maximum deficit amounts starting with FY 1994 which reduce the deficit to zero by the end of FY 2000. Repeals the budget agreement enforcement provisions of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. Provides for applying to FY 1994 through 2000 the emergency powers to eliminate deficits in excess of the maximum deficit amount set forth under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), as in effect immediately before November 5, 1990. Extends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 until September 30, 2001.
Bill· HRH.R. 4282 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit of $1,000 for the purchase of domestically manufactured automobiles acquired for the personal use of the taxpayer and not for use in a trade or business. Requires an automobile to be treated as manufactured in the United States if at least 75 percent of the cost to the manufacturer is attributable to value added in the United States or Canada. Reduces the basis of such automobile by the amount of the credit.
Bill· HRH.R. 4278 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1992
American Veterans' Health Care Reform Act of 1992 - Defines as a "core-entitled veteran" any veteran currently eligible for hospital, nursing home, and domiciliary care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Makes the provision by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of nursing home and domiciliary care for core-entitled veterans mandatory (currently discretionary). Requires (currently authorizes) the Secretary: (1) when Department facilities are not available, to contract with non-Department facilities for hospital care and medical services for core-entitled veterans; and (2) to transfer to a non-Department nursing home for adult day care core-entitled veterans who cannot be kept at a Department nursing facility. Makes the provision of dental services in non-Department facilities mandatory for core-entitled veterans (currently discretionary) when such veterans cannot be furnished such treatment in a Department facility because of incapacity or geographical inaccessability. Requires (currently allows) the provision of domiciliary care to certain low-income veterans. Authorizes the provision of domiciliary care to ineligible (non-core-entitled) veterans who agree to participate in a managed health care plan established under this Act. Directs (currently authorizes) the Secretary to correct or treat any non-service-connected disability of a core-entitled veteran when such veteran is already receiving hospital or nursing home care in a Department facility. Makes an identical change with respect to the provision of dental services and treatment for a non-service-connected dental condition. Authorizes the Secretary to perform outpatient services for certain veterans if the Secretary determines they are needed (currently, only for medical services necessary in preparation for hospital admission or to obviate the need for such admission). Makes mandatory (currently discretionary) the provision by the Secretary on an ambulatory or outpatient basis of needed medical services for: (1) former POWs; (2) any veteran of the Mexican border period or World War I; and (3) any veteran in receipt of an increased pension or allowance based on the need for regular aid or attendance or by reason of being permanently housebound. Requires the provision of outpatient dental services, treatment, and related appliances to any core-entitled veteran. Allows any other veteran to be furnished such services if they participate in the Department-managed health care plan. Directs the Secretary to furnish readjustment counseling to any veteran who served on active duty (currently, only to any active-duty Vietnam era veteran). Directs the Secretary to provide seeing eye or guide dogs and related expenses and mechanical or electronic equipment used for overcomining blindness to any core-entitled veteran. Allows the Secretary to provide such dogs, expenses, or equipment to any other veteran who agrees to participate in the Department-managed health care plan. Directs the Secretary, in the case of core-entitled veterans, to: (1) furnish home health services (including lifts) found necessary to treat a veteran's disability or if medically necessary; (2) furnish devices for assistance in overcoming deafness; (3) repair or replace any artificial limb, truss, brace, hearing aid, spectacles, or similar appliance reasonably necessary and belonging to a veteran; (4) transfer such veteran from a Department to a non-Department nursing home at his or her request; (5) contract for care, treatment and rehabilitative services in halfway houses, therapeutic communities, psychiatric residential treatment centers, and other community-based treatment facilities for those suffering from alcohol or drug dependence or abuse; and (6) furnish respite care services. Makes permanent the provision of such respite care services (currently terminates on September 30, 1992). Directs the Secretary to provide certain of such services to non-core-entitled veterans who agree to participate in the Department-managed health care plan. Exempts core-entitled veterans from any required medication copayments. Makes permanent (currently terminates September 30, 1991) such required copayments for non-core-entitled veterans. Directs the Secretary to furnish preventive health care services to any core-entitled veteran requesting such services. Authorizes the Secretary to provide such services to any other veteran who either agrees to pay the United States a reasonable amount for such services or participates in the Department-managed health care plan. Outlines the various preventive services offered. Requires the Secretary, in carrying out such services, to emphasize the use of interdisciplinary health care teams composed of various professional and paraprofessional personnel. Directs the Secretary to design, implement, and maintain a managed health care services plan to make a variety of health care services packages available to non-core-entitled veterans and their survivors and dependents. Directs the Secretary to determine a range of premiums for such packages which are affordable to potential participants in the plan. Requires such plan to be established within two years after enactment of this Act. Authorizes payments by non-core-entitled veterans for discretionary services provided to such veterans and their survivors and dependents through the Department to be paid directly to the Government, from a plan fund derived from the payment of premiums, or through reimbursement under Medicare, Medicaid, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS), private health insurance, or by any combination of such payment alternatives. Authorizes appropriations, for fiscal years beginning after 1992 and to the extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts, of necessary sums to provide benefits to which entitlement is established under this Act, including the cost necessary to allow the Department to practice quality management and assurance functions. Authorizes appropriations for the same period to cover administrative expenses in carrying out this Act. Includes Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements under the definition of a "health plan contract," thereby allowing such reimbursements to be included in the health plan established under this Act. Authorizes: (1) the United States to collect for care and services provided to non-core-entitled veterans and their survivors and dependents under CHAMPUS, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other health insurance plan; and (2) the Secretary to use funds collected in the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical-Care Cost Recovery Fund for providing benefits and paying administrative and operational expenses for the delivery of health care services. Exempts all health benefits which core-entitled veterans are provided under appropriate Federal provisions from sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm- Rudman-Hollings Act). Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees on the implementation and operation of health care plans and reforms made effective by this Act. Directs the Secretary, as part of each such report, to request and take into account comments provided by congressionally-chartered veterans' organizations.
Law· HRH.R. 4250 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Amtrak Capital Acquisition and Technology Development Act - Amends the Rail Passenger Service Act to require the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to develop a plan for the elimination by December 31, 1997, of all highway at-grade crossings along the main line of the Northeast Corridor between Boston, Massachusetts, and New York, New York. Requires the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to pay 20 percent of the cost of the elimination of each crossing. Directs Amtrak to develop and report to the Congress on a plan for the demonstration of new technologies in rail passenger equipment. Requires the Secretary to develop and submit to the Congress a program master plan that will permit the establishment of regularly scheduled, safe, and dependable rail passenger service between Boston and New York City, including appropriate intermediate stops, in three hours or less. Declares that no amendment of the articles of incorporation of Amtrak shall be required for the issuance of preferred stock. Declares that Amtrak's railroad subsidiaries, lessors, and lessees shall not be required to pay any additional taxes as a consequence of their expenditure of funds to acquire or improve real property, equipment, facilities, or right-of-way materials or structures used in the provision of rail passenger service. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) capital acquisition and Northeast Corridor development; (2) new corridor development, especially between densely populated cities and over long distances; (3) Amtrak operating expenses; and (4) certain mandatory payments. Repeals: (1) the Secretary's authority to guarantee loans to finance upgrading of roadbeds and the purchase or lease of rolling stock, certain systems, equipment and facilities for the improvement of rail passenger service; and (2) the prohibition on the use of intercity rail passenger service funds for the operation of Amtrak Commuter service.
Bill· HRH.R. 4260 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Education Opportunity Enhancement Act of 1992 - Title I: Federal Pell Grants - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise and rename the Pell Grants program under HEA title IV part A subpart 1 as the Federal Pell Grants program (later redesignates the provisions as subpart 2). Extends such program authority through FY 1998. Increases the maximum award amount for Pell Grants to $4,500 in academic year 1993-1994, with further increases based on the Consumer Price Index for academic years 1994-1995 through 1998-1999. Revises the formula for determining the amount of a Pell Grant award to a student. Sets forth payment schedules based on the expected family contribution and tuition costs, for various types of students. Permits Pell Grant awards (proportionately reduced) to students attending on a less-than-half time basis (including those taking one course at a time). Prohibits Pell Grants awards to prisoners in Federal or State penal institutions. Revises provisions relating to the period of eligibility for Pell Grants. Includes as eligible for Pell Grants students in programs of study abroad that are approved for credit by the institutions. Revises provisions relating to the eligibility index. Provides that Pell Grant recipients shall not be considered to be individual grantees for purposes of specified Federal law. Repeals specified provisions for a separate need analysis formula for Pell Grants. (Later in this Act, a single new need analysis formula and system is established for all title IV student aid programs, including Pell Grants.) Title II: Need Analysis - Revises HEA title IV part F provisions for Need Analysis. Establishes a new single need analysis formula to be used in the calculation of financial need for all title IV Student Assistance programs (thus replacing the current separate formulas for Pell Grants and for other title IV programs). Bases such new formula on the current formula used for the Stafford (GSL) and the "campus-based" aid programs including supplemental grants and work-study programs. Revises provisions for amount of need. Eliminates provisions for a minimum student contribution. Revises provisions for cost of attendance. Revises provisions for expected family contribution: (1) in general; (2) for dependent students; (3) independent students without dependent children; and (4) independent students with dependent children. Revises provisions relating to the Secretary's authority to prescribe specified updated need analysis tables and to propose modifications in the need analysis methodology. Revises provisions for the simplified needs test to provide for a by-pass and consideration as having a zero family contribution for those with family adjusted gross incomes less than or equal to the earned income tax credit. Retains provisions relating to: (1) the discretion of student financial aid administrators; (2) disregard of student aid in other Federal programs; and (3) Native American students. Revises definitions for need analysis provisions under title IV. Includes, under the definition of independent student, one who is 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year.
Bill· HRH.R. 4274 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate intangible drilling costs and percentage depletion as tax preference items for independent producers of oil and gas properties.
Bill· HRH.R. 4262 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Research, Experimentation, and Investment Incentives Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the credit for increasing research activities until December 31, 1996. (Currently, such provision expires June 30, 1992.) Allows an investment tax credit for manufacturing and other productive equipment for the period after December 31, 1991, and before January 1, 1994. Provides for determining such credit.
Bill· HRH.R. 4254 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income certain awards for employee productivity, limited to a specified amount.
Bill· HRH.R. 4246 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Middle Class Flexible Savings Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the retirement savings deduction and the maximum individual retirement account contribution from $2,000 to $3,000. Raises income phase-out limits. Provides an inflation adjustment for such amounts. Allows higher retirement savings deductions for nonworking spouses in households with one or more children under the age of six. Allows penalty-free distributions from certain retirement plans for: (1) qualified higher education expenses of the taxpayer, spouse, or child; (2) business start-up expenditures; and (3) medical expenses. Limits such distributions to individuals whose adjusted gross income does not exceed: $60,000 in the case of an unmarried individual, $70,000 in the case of a joint return, and $35,000 in the case of married individuals filing separately.
Bill· HRH.R. 4249 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Allows penalty-free distributions from an individual retirement account, an individual retirement annuity, or a qualified cash or deferred arrangement for the one-year period beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. Excludes from gross income ten percent of the portion of such distribution which would have been includible but for enactment of this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 4268 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a partial exclusion of dividends or interest received by an individual.
Bill· HRH.R. 4263 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Value Added Tax Impact Assessment Act of 1992 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the Congress on a value added tax.
Bill· HRH.R. 4251 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax deduction for ten percent of the lesser of: (1) $30,000; or (2) the qualified earned income of the spouse with the lower qualified earned income. Provides for a phase-out of such deduction for adjusted gross income that exceeds $75,000. Provides a formula for determining qualified earned income. Disallows such deduction if either spouse claims tax exclusions for: (1) citizens or residents of the United States living abroad; or (2) income from sources within Guam, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands. Allows such deduction in computing adjusted gross income. Provides for the treatment of such deduction under rules for social security and tier 1 railroad retirement benefits.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 282 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) consideration of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) should be a high priority; (2) LIHEAP funding for FY 1993 should be increased to a level greater than or equal to funding for FY 1992; and (3) the President should accept the LIHEAP funding level for FY 1993 as recommended by the Congress.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 280 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Declares that: (1) businesses should offer monetary employee achievement awards to employees who offer ideas to improve efficiency, productivity, competitiveness, and products; and (2) the Congress should encourage such awards by enacting significant tax incentives for employees to contribute to business productivity and for businesses to reward such contributions.
Bill· SS. 2223 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a sale or exchange of indebtedness held through mutual fund shares by certain financial institutions shall not be considered a sale or exchange of a capital asset (thus treating such shares as items of ordinary income).
Bill· HRH.R. 4235 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
National Children's Health Care Act of 1992 - Title I: Findings - Sets forth congressional findings. Title II: Children's Health Care Program - Establishes: (1) a National Children's Health Care Administration; (2) a health care program; and (3) an advisory commission. Regulates payment rates. Entitles pregnant women and children under seven to benefits under the program if they are U.S. citizens or nationals, lawful permanent residents, or aliens otherwise residing permanently in the United States under color of law. Includes coverage for preventive, major medical, child extended medical services, and outreach services. Allows freedom of choice of providers of services from among those qualified to receive payment for the services. Prohibits providers from imposing a charge exceeding the payment rate. Excludes items and services as provided in specified provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Provides for contracts with health maintenance organizations modeled after risk-sharing contracts under Medicare. Title III: Financing through Increase in Individual and Corporate Income Tax Rates - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an income tax on individuals, estates, and trusts. Increases the corporate income tax rate.
Bill· HRH.R. 4231 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
International Peacekeeping Activities Supplemental Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 - Authorizes additional appropriations for: (1) FY 1992 and 1993 for U.S. contributions to United Nations peacekeeping activities; and (2) FY 1993 for contributions to international organizations.
Bill· HRH.R. 4238 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow use of the adjusted earnings and profits tax basis for allocating and apportioning interest expense.
Bill· HRH.R. 4237 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
Capital Investment Act of 1992 - Title I: Reduction in Capital Gains Taxes on Certain Assets - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a variable capital gains deduction for noncorporate as well as corporate taxpayers based upon capital assets held from one to five years. Revises the alternative capital gains tax for corporations accordingly. Disallows such deduction in computing the alternative minimum tax for individuals. Title II: Temporary Investment Credit - Allows an investment tax credit for new productive equipment placed in service during 1992 or 1993. Excludes imported property. Title III: Rollover of Gain From Sale of Capital Assets - Provides for the nonrecognition of gain from the sale of a capital asset that is made into a rollover retirement contribution within the 60-day period beginning on the date of the sale. Sets forth a special rule where an exchange of property is treated as a sale. Prohibits any tax deduction for such contributions. Establishes a three-year statute of limitations for deficiency assessments if property is sold at a gain. Increases the penalty for early withdrawals from qualified retirement plans to the extent of amounts that were rollover retirement contributions. Title IV: Research Credit Made Permanent - Makes permanent the credit for increasing research activities.
Bill· HRH.R. 4236 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of rental and nonrental real estate activities under the limitations on losses from passive activities.
Bill· HRH.R. 4239 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
United States Olympic Checkoff Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to designate on their income tax returns contributions (not less than one dollar) to the United States Olympic Trust Fund. Establishes such Trust Fund.
Bill· HRH.R. 4229 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 1992
Trident II (D-5) Missile Production Termination Act - Prohibits funds appropriated to the Department of Defense for fiscal years after 1992 from being obligated or expended for production of additional Trident II (D-5) missiles. Allows amounts appropriated to the Department to be expended for such missile only to complete production of those missiles commenced with funds appropriated before FY 1993.
Bill· HRH.R. 4221 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 1992
Minority Enterprise Development Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for investment in qualified minority fund interests. Limits such deduction to $300,000 ($150,000 in the case of a married individual filing separately). Allows a deduction for investment in the stock of small minority business corporations, up to certain limits. Provides for recapture of such deductions in computing bases for capital gains purposes. Requires an interest charge on the disposition within three years of any property whose bases have been reduced by such a deduction. Excludes from gross income 50 percent of any gain on the sale or exchange of any property by a qualified minority fund if such property was held for at least three years. Defers qualified reinvested capital gain, in the case of an individual, for up to the ninth year after the sale or exchange. Places a dollar limitation on such amount. Makes ineligible for such deferral married individuals who do not file joint returns and estates or trusts. Terminates such deferral if qualified property is disposed of before five years after its purchase.
Bill· HRH.R. 4210 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1992
Title I: Accelerated Growth - Economic Growth Acceleration Act of 1992 - Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Capital Gains - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a capital gains deduction for noncorporate taxpayers for assets held from one to three years. Provides special rules for the gain or loss from the sale or exchange of collectibles and sales of interest in partnerships. Disallows such deduction in computing the alternative minimum tax. Revises the formula for determining gain from the dispositions of certain depreciable realty to take into account depreciation adjustments (adjustments allowed or allowable for exhaustion, wear and tear, obsolescence, or certain amortization). Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Passive Losses and Depreciation - Treats the real estate development activity of a taxpayer as a single trade or business activity that is not a rental activity. Allows an additional depreciation allowance for the purchase of new equipment as investment property after February 1, 1992, which is placed in service before July 1, 1993. Reduces the basis adjustment of such property by the amount of the additional allowance. Requires application of such allowance in determining the alternative minimum tax. Restricts the determination of adjusted current earnings for purposes of computing alternative minimum taxable income to property placed in service after 1989 and before February 1, 1992. Subtitle C: Provisions Relating to Real Estate Investments by Pension Funds - Modifies exceptions to the exclusion of real property acquired by a qualified organization from the meaning of acquisition indebtedness. Makes certain exceptions inapplicable to sales out of foreclosure by a financial institution. Applies the meaning of acquisition indebtedness to investments in certain large partnerships where the principal purpose of partnership allocation is not tax avoidance. Repeals the special rule for publicly traded partnerships with respect to the treatment of unrelated business taxable income. Subtitle D: Provisions Affecting Homebuyers - Allows a first-time homebuyer who purchases a principal residence a tax credit of ten percent of the purchase price, not to exceed $5,000. Limits such credit to one residence and requires acquisition between February 1, 1992, and January 1, 1993. Allows penalty-free withdrawals from individual retirement plans for a first-home purchase. Limits such distribution to $10,000, or other applicable amount if previous distributions have been made. Title II: Tax Relief for Families - Tax Relief for Families Act of 1992 - Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Education and Savings - Allows a deduction for interest on education loans for the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or child. Requires such loans to be for tuition and related expenses at certain higher education institutions. Reduces such deduction by any amount excludable from gross income by reason of the redemption of U.S. bonds for higher education expenses. Coordinates such deduction with the home equity indebtedness provision. States that investment interest does not include qualified educational interest. Requires persons who receive interest payments to report them on an information return, and to furnish written statements to the payors on receipt of such payments. Allows the establishment of flexible individual retirement accounts (FIRA) for the exclusive benefit of an individual and the individual's beneficiaries. Limits annual contributions to the lesser of $2,500, or the compensation includable in the individual's gross income. Prohibits contributions to FIRAs maintained for a taxpayer if the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds: (1) $120,000, in the case of a joint return; (2) $100,000, in the case of a surviving spouse or head of household; and (3) $60,000, in any other case. Prohibits the establishment of FIRAs for dependents. Exempts FIRAs from taxation, except the tax on unrelated business income of charitable, etc. organizations. Allows pooling arrangements for such accounts. Excludes from gross income distributions out of FIRA held for at least seven years. Imposes the ten-percent additional penalty tax on distributions made during the first three years. Provides for the transfer from individual retirement plans to FIRAs. Allows penalty-free withdrawals from qualified retirement plans for qualified higher education expenses and financially devastating medical expenses. Subtitle B: Other Provisions - Allows a deduction for loss incurred from the sale of a principal residence. Provides for an increase in the basis of a new principal residence purchased by a taxpayer who realized a loss on the sale of the old residence. Increases the personal exemption for a child who has not attained aged 19. Extends the deduction for health insurance cost for self-employed individuals from June 30, 1992, to December 31, 1993. Allows a deduction for qualified adoption expenses of up to $3,000. Denies the use of such deduction for any expense for which a deduction or credit is already allowable and for which reimbursements have been made. Defines qualified adoption expenses as those: (1) directly related to the legal adoption of a child with special needs; (2) that are not incurred in violation of State or Federal law; and (3) that are of a type eligible for reimbursement under the adoption assistance program under title IV of the Social Security Act (Grants to States for Aid and Services to Needy Families with Children and for Child-Welfare Services). Allows such deduction whether or not the taxpayer itemizes deductions. Includes as a working condition fringe benefit excluded from gross income any passes, tokens, fare cards, tickets or similar instruments for commuting by public transit provided to an employee at a discount by the employer, or reimbursements by the employer to cover all or part of the costs of such instruments, to the extent that such amounts do not exceed $60 per month. Title III: Long Term Growth - Long Term Growth Act of 1992 - Subtitle A: Extension of Expiring Provisions - Makes permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities and for clinical testing expenses for certain drugs for rare diseases or conditions (orphan drugs). Postpones the termination dates of the following provisions: (1) the rules of allocating research and experimental expenditures; (2) the low-income housing credit; (3) the targeted jobs credit; and (4) the solar and geothermal investment credit. Extends the authority to issue qualified small issue bonds to finance farm property. Extends the authority to issue qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Enterprise Zones - Enterprise Zone-Jobs Creation Act of 1992 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every four years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned up to a specified amount. Provides for phase-out of such credit. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows an individual a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Excludes enterprise zone capital gain from computation of the alternative minimum tax. Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite the processing of applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Subtitle C: Excise Tax Provisions - Repeals the luxury excise tax on boats and aircraft. Repeals the exemption from the tax on disesel fuel and special motor fuels for the use of diesel fuel in pleasure boats, unless such boats are used in a boat business. States that excise taxes for diesel fuels used in pleasure boats shall be retained in the General Treasury. (Current law requires transfer of such amounts to the Highway Trust Fund and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund.) Subjects certain digital data transmissions to the communications excise tax. Repeals the exemption of certain coin-operated telephone services from such tax. Subtitle D: Provisions Related to Retirement Savings and Pension Distributions - Allows any portion of a distribution from a qualified pension plan to be rolled over tax-free to an individual retirement account or another qualified plan or annuity, unless it is part of a stream of periodic payments payable over a period of ten years or the lives or life expectancies of the participant and/or his or her beneficiary. Repeals: (1) the $5,000 limitation on the exclusion from gross income of employees' death benefits; (2) the five-year forward income averaging for lump-sum distributions; and (3) the exclusion of net unrealized appreciation in employer securities. Eliminates alternative methods of determining the tax on annuity payments. Sets forth a single method (currently provided in a special Internal Revenue Service Notice) which excludes from gross income, as at present, the employees investment in the contract, divided by the number of anticipated payments, but without the additional exclusion of $5,000 (repealed by this Act). Changes from discretionary to mandatory a qualified plan's authority to offer a participant the option of having a distribution transferred directly to another qualified plan. Establishes a simplified employee pension plan (a Small Business Model Retirement Plan) that allows salary reduction arrangements for employers of fewer than 100 employees (currently, fewer than 25 employees). Requires employers to contribute one percent of pay (up to $100,000) to an account for each eligible employee. Permits an employee to elect to contribute up to $3,000 per year. Requires the employer to match such contribution according to a specified formula. Prohibits State and local governments from participating in cash or deferred arrangements. Permits nongovernmental tax-exempt employers to maintain qualified cash or deferred arrangements for their employees. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, as a condition of sponsorship, to prescribe rules defining the duties and responsibilities of certain master and prototype retirement plans. Replaces the two-part nondiscrimination test for elective contributions under cash or deferred arrangements with a single test of whether: (1) the actual deferral percentage (ADP) of highly compensated employees exceeds 200 percent of the average deferral percentage of nonhighly compensated employees for a plan year; and (2) the actual deferral percentage of such employees exceeds the average deferral percentage of nonhighly compensated employees for the preceding plan year by more than three percentage points. Redefines the term "highly compensated employee" for pension, profit sharing, stock bonus plan, etc. purposes. Makes such an employee one who meets several criteria in addition to five-percent ownership or compensation from the employer in excess of $50,000. Eliminates special rules for officers and employees in the top 20 percent by compensation. Provides a special rule where no employees are treated as highly compensated except the one with the highest compensation. Eliminates the rule requiring ten years of service for vesting for employees subject to collective bargaining agreements under multiemployer plans. Subtitle E: Other Provisions - Repeals the appreciated property charitable deduction as a tax preference item under the alternative minimum tax. Requires a charitable contribution allowable as a deduction in computing taxable income (whether from domestic or foreign sources) to be allocated and apportioned solely to gross income from sources within the United States. Requires the donee of any large charitable donation (over $500 in cash or property from any individual) to make an information return relating to such donation. Provides for the application of the Medicare hospital insurance tax to State and local employees. Amends the Social Security Act to provide for the entitlement of such employees to hospital insurance benefits. Requires dealers in stock or securities to use the mark to market inventory accounting method (thus including such securities in inventory at fair market value instead of cost value, or the lower of cost or market value). Disallows interest deduction on life insurance owned by a corporation and covering its officers or employees. Prohibits a deduction for certain losses on the disposition of property to the extent that the taxpayer has a right to be reimbursed for the loss with assistance from the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). Limits the tax exemption for credit unions to small credit unions with assets of less than $50,000,000. Restricts the deduction for dividends paid on deposits and the deduction for additions to reserves for bad debts to credit unions that are not small credit unions. Provides that certain life insurance contracts will be treated as annuity contracts only if the purchaser irrevocably chooses as a settlement option a series of substantially equal periodic payments made for the life of the annuitant or the joint lives of the annuitants. Expands the 45-day interest-free period for refunding tax overpayments to all returns, as well as to amended returns and claims for refunds. Provides for the permanent use of Internal Revenue Service and Social Security data by the Department of Veterans Affairs for income verification.
Bill· HRH.R. 4214 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1992
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to limit aggregate payment reductions to urban hospitals in FY 1993 that are attributable to geographical reclassifications in an effort to maintain budget neutrality. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in a report to the Congress, to make recommendations for: (1) modifications to the methodology used to determine the initial geographic areas in which hospitals are located for purposes of adjusting payments to hospitals under part A (Hospital Insurance) of Medicare for differences in area wage levels; (2) appropriate bases for determining the geographic classification of hospitals under Medicare that recognize the unique labor market conditions affecting hospitals; and (3) modifications to the payment adjustments required under Medicare to offset increases in aggregate payments resulting from changes in geographic classification. Requires the Prospective Payment Commission to submit comments to the Congress on such report. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide that, to the extent that budget neutrality is not achieved under such limitation above, payment of any increase in aggregate hospital payments attributable to such reclassifications will be made through reductions in discretionary defense spending. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide that disproportionate share payment adjustments to hospitals that are geographically reclassified shall be computed as if such hospitals had not been so reclassified.
Bill· HRH.R. 4216 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1992
Misclassification of Employees Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the waiver of employment tax liability for employers for any period if: (1) the employer did not treat an individual as an employee for purposes of employment taxes; (2) the treatment of such individual was based on a reasonable good faith misapplication of the common law rules used for determining the employer-employee relationship; (3) Federal tax returns for such period were filed on a basis consistent with the treatment of such individual as not being an employee; (4) the employer (and any predecessor) did not treat any other individual holding a substantially similar position as an employee for employment tax purposes after December 31, 1977; and (5) the employer enters into a closing agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to treating such individual as an employee. Amends the Revenue Act of 1978 to require an employer to have a reasonable basis for not treating an individual as an employee. Repeals the use of a prior audit as a reasonable basis. Removes the prohibition against regulations and rulings on employment status. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the determination of whether an individual is an employee of another person for purposes of unemployment compensation.
Bill· HRH.R. 4217 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide an inflation adjustment for the sale price at which the luxury tax on passenger vehicles applies.
Bill· HRH.R. 4215 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1992
Title I: Recreation Admission Fees and Use Fees - America the Beautiful Passport Act of 1991 - Amends the Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to repeal provisions mandating charges for entrance or admission fees only at designated units of the National Park System or National Recreation Areas administered by the Departments of the Interior or of Agriculture (Departments). Authorizes the Secretaries of such Departments (Secretaries) to charge admission fees at any land and water area which they administer and designate for such charges. Limits the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to charge admission fees to national recreation areas, national monuments, national volcanic monuments, national scenic areas, and developed recreation complexes within the National Forest System. Replaces an annual admission permit known as the Golden Eagle Passport with an America the Beautiful Passport for admission into any such designated area. Makes such passport valid for the 12-month period beginning in the month of sale (currently, only for the calendar year for which the fee is paid). Requires the Secretaries to set a $30 fee for such permit in lieu of the maximum $25 fee. Authorizes them to change the fee under specified conditions. Releases the holder of a permit under this Act from additional fees charged for specified Federal recreation areas, except for overnight camping fees or the use of group facilities. (Currently, a permit does not authorize uses for which additional fees are charged.) Revises provisions for specific geographic permits to authorize the Secretaries to make an admission permit available and valid for a 12-month period beginning in the month of sale for one or more designated areas in a particular geographic area. Conveys the privileges of, and subjects such permit to the same terms and conditions as, the America the Beautiful Passport (currently the Golden Eagle Passport), except that it shall be valid only for admission into the specific unit or units indicated at the time of purchase. Mandates a $15 fee for such permit under specified circumstances. (Currently, a maximum $15 fee is charged for such permit regardless of how many units of the park system are covered.) Authorizes the Secretaries to permit State or local government units, organizations, businesses, and nonprofit entities to sell and collect fees for the America the Beautiful Passport for a maximum six-month period and to withhold reasonable amounts up to, but not exceeding, ten percent of the gross fees collected from such sales as reimbursement for necessary expenses. Requires the sellers to provide information to America the Beautiful Passport purchasers about recreation activities on Federal lands. Requires all net receipts from the sales of permits under this Act to be deposited into a special account in the Treasury to be available at the end of each fiscal year for appropriation to any agency collecting fees under this Act to fund the agency challenge cost-share agreements under the Challenge Cost-Share Act of 1991. Establishes the Federal Recreation Fee Advisory Commission to prepare biannually an advisory report for the Secretaries regarding the admission fee system, including: (1) the fee charged for the America the Beautiful Passport; (2) the designation of sites where admission fees are collected; (3) the amount of fees at designated and proposed sites; and (4) whether the Passport should waive recreation fees. Terminates the Commission upon its fourth biannual report to the Secretaries. Names specified "developed recreation complexes." Authorizes the Secretary to charge an admission fee at other developed recreation complexes within the National Forest System in addition to those listed under this Act. Repeals specified fees for a single-visit permit at any designated area (allowing the administering Secretary, in his or her own discretion, to charge a reasonable admission fee). Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, with the advice and consent of the Secretary of Agriculture, to change such fees upon the Commission's recommendation. Requires notification of specified congressional committees before any fee increase can go into effect. Limits Golden Age Passport general admission into any area to the holder and spouse (currently any other accompanying persons, especially children, are also included). Provides that no admission fee may be charged under this Act of any person less than 16 years of age (currently, 16 years of age or less). Repeals limitations on admission fees for single visits at the following parks: (1) Yellowstone National Park; (2) Grand Teton National Park; and (3) Grand Canyon National Park. Revises Federal agency authority to collect daily recreation use fees, limiting it to developed recreation sites such as campgrounds and picnic grounds which have been developed for public use, swimming sites, boat launch ramps, and managed parking lots. Authorizes an agency to issue a special recreation permit for backcountry overnight camping. Revises provisions that require Federal agencies to deposit fees collected under this Act into a special account in the Treasury to repeal the exception from such mandate for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Requires the National Park Service as well as all agencies collecting such fees to make them available for resource management, visitor services, maintenance, and fee collection on lands and waters administered by such agency, except that funds collected from sales of geographic permits shall be allocated directly to those areas which collected them. Repeals provisions that: (1) allocate amounts covered into the special account for the National Park Service; and (2) establish the distribution formula for such allocations. Prescribes guidelines for the Secretary of Agriculture when collecting national forest system recreation use receipts. Title II: Challenge Cost-Share Agreements - Challenge Cost-Share Act of 1991 - Authorizes the Secretaries to negotiate and enter into challenge cost-share agreements with cooperators to share the costs or services in carrying out any function or responsibility of the land management agencies administered by them. Authorizes the Secretaries to provide the Federal funding share from any funds available to such land management agencies.
Bill· SS. 2220 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1992
Long-Term Unemployment Reduction Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the targeted jobs tax credit available for a one-year period to employers who hire long-term unemployed individuals. Requires such individual to be employed by the employer for at least 120 days and at wages up to a specified percentage of certain average wage rates. Requires the employer to take reasonable actions to recruit such individuals in order to qualify for the credit.
Bill· SS. 2222 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1992
Leading Employers Into Apprentice Partnerships Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax exemption for organizations administering a qualified apprenticeship education program. Allows a general business credit of 20 percent of contributions made to such programs by a business.
Bill· SS. 2214 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1992
Long Island Sound Restoration Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out a demonstration program to make annual grants to the States of New York and Connecticut for: (1) demonstrating methods of restoring and maintaining the water quality of designated bays and harbors of Long Island Sound at which water quality standards pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act have not been achieved or at which other significant water quality degradation has occurred; (2) demonstrating the importance of controlling nonpoint sources of pollution in restoring and maintaining water quality; (3) enhancing opportunities for water-dependent recreational activities, maintaining a healthy ecosystem, protecting and enhancing marine life, minimizing health risks associated with human consumption of shellfish and finfish, and ensuring that social and economic benefits to the public associated with the Sound are advanced; and (4) advancing goals and recommendations of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan of the Long Island Sound Study. Requires the States of New York and Connecticut, in order to be eligible for grants, to designate bays and harbors of the Sound at which eligible activities will be carried out. Sets forth designation requirements. Requires grants to be used to: (1) carry out eligible activities and monitoring programs at designated bays and harbors; and (2) educate the public on the implementation and results of such activities. Allocates 2/3 and 1/3 of the amounts appropriated in a fiscal year for such grants to New York and Connecticut, respectively. Sets the non-Federal share of the costs of such activities at 30 percent. Authorizes appropriations.
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