Modernize Our Bookkeeping In the Law for Employee's Cell Phone Act of 2009

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.

(Mr. BOUSTANY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4994. This legislation contains provisions that will make tax season a little easier for many American families; and, therefore, it's worthy of my support.

There are some good, bipartisan ideas in this bill. For example, it makes sense to shield employees from burdensome paperwork requirements when they use their employer-provided cell phones to call their spouses to see if they need to pick up milk on the way home. Our colleague from Texas, Sam Johnson, introduced that legislation and at last count it has over 200 cosponsors from both parties.

This bill also includes bipartisan legislation that Chairman Lewis and I introduced to make it easier for taxpayers to enter into offers and compromise with the IRS.

I am glad that our legislation was included in the bill, and I appreciate Chairman Lewis reaching out to me in a bipartisan manner to find ways to make it easier for taxpayers and the IRS to resolve their disputes amicably.

This bill instructs the IRS to notify taxpayers when it discovers evidence that those taxpayers might be victims of identity theft. For example, when criminals attempt to claim tax refunds in the name of a law-abiding taxpayer, amazingly the IRS does not currently notify taxpayers when it discovers suspicious activity conducted in their names. And this bill includes a study on whether the IRS can provide tax refunds on debit cards. That sounds reasonable to me as it could result in more efficient delivery of tax refunds to taxpayers who need their money right away to pay their bills.

For these reasons and more, I am happy to support this legislation today. But, Mr. Speaker, my support for this legislation does not reduce my disappointment in the antitaxpayer legislation that this majority has enacted into law over the last 15 months, nor does it change my belief that we could do much more for hardworking taxpayers.

If we really wanted to do some good for taxpayers today, we might eliminate all the powers given to the IRS under the new health care law, like putting the IRS in charge of enforcing a new requirement that every American family purchase government-approved health insurance; taxing families that don't have government-approved health insurance, at least $2,000 for a family of four; and if the family doesn't pay a tax, allowing the IRS to impose civil penalties and interest, and even confiscate that family's tax refund.

Mr. Speaker, if we really wanted to do some good for taxpayers today, we could make permanent the important tax relief enacted in 2001 and 2003, which provides relief to every American that pays income taxes and which are set to expire at the end of this year. And we could find a permanent solution to the growing reach of the alternative minimum tax, which threatens to engulf millions of middle class families if Congress fails to act. But this bill does not provide such relief for American taxpayers, and so although I think the bill takes some very positive steps, it also represents a missed opportunity.

I intend to support this bill, Mr. Speaker, but I believe we could have and should have done so much more for hardworking Americans who send us here to conduct the Nation's business and who entrust us with such a large portion of the fruits of their labor.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), a distinguished member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), a distinguished member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier, this legislation contains provisions that will make April 15 easier for American taxpayers, and so I intend to vote for the bill.

Simplifying the treatment of cell phones used by employees, eliminating the 20 percent down payment requirement for offers in compromise, notifying taxpayers of suspected identity theft, and studying whether there are more efficient ways to get tax refunds into people's hands all makes sense and will make a positive difference in people's lives.

But it's also important to recognize what's not this in this bill: Repeal of health care mandates and taxes, protecting taxpayers from automatic tax increases scheduled to go into effect next year, and finding a permanent solution to the ticking time bomb known as the AMT. Hopefully, the majority will listen to the American people and move forward on those priorities so that taxpayers will have an easier time on future tax days.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4994) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce taxpayer burdens and enhance taxpayer protections, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill, H.R. 4994.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is April 15, the day Americans will file their income tax returns. The IRS will receive nearly 150 million tax returns this year and issue over 100 million refunds. We know that taxpayers do not enjoy preparing tax returns. The tax laws can be complicated and difficult. We do, however, thank them for complying with the laws; and today, with this bill, we will try to ease some of the burden.

On this day, the House is considering the Taxpayer Assistance Act of 2010. I am pleased that this bill contains proposals supported by the administration, the National Taxpayer Advocate, and Members of the House from both sides of the aisle.

This bill has over a dozen provisions that will help taxpayers. It will help taxpayers who are struggling in this economy by making it easy to enter into payment options with the IRS. It will also help low- income taxpayers by improving the IRS services that are available to them, and it will help small businesses and nonprofit organizations by relaxing the record-keeping requirements for cell phones that they provide to their employees.

This bill addresses issues that have been raised in hearings of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, which I chair, and in legislation introduced by other Members of the House.

Many of the provisions in this bill enjoy broad bipartisan support. Today, in recognition of taxpayers, the Congress will look beyond what divides us and respond to the needs of our taxpayers. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in passing this good and necessary piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from North Dakota, a very valuable member of the Ways and Means Committee, just came in, and I yield to him for 1\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to thank my good friend and colleague, Dr. Boustany, the ranking member of the subcommittee, and all the members of the committee and all staff on both sides for their help in bringing this bill before the floor.

I fully support H.R. 4994. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes'' for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4994, the ``Tax Assistance Act of 2010.'' With Tax Day around the corner, this Congress is continuing to build on its strong tax cutting record by instituting a series of commonsense tax cuts and credits. Among other things, this bill will require the IRS to pay interest when it sends taxpayer refunds late and end the outdated practice of requiring businesses to keep cumbersome records related to their cell phone use. It will also make Tax Day less stressful in 2011, by allowing the IRS to provide additional help to low income filers.

In addition to the commonsense, pro-business tax cuts found in this bill, this Tax Day, Americans across the country will also be able to enjoy the $800 billion in tax cuts aimed at working families enacted by this Congress. These include the Recovery Act, the largest health care tax cut in history, and tax credits and accelerated write offs for small businesses. Even Bruce Bartlett, President Reagan's domestic policy advisor, noted that ``federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president.''

As Americans file their 2009 income taxes, they may qualify for a series of other generous tax cuts--for example, you could save money for attending college, making energy-saving home improvements, purchasing a home for the first time, or buying a new car. Other benefits being claimed this year include:

The Making Work Pay tax credit--95 percent of working families are already receiving the Recovery Act's Making Work Pay tax credit of $400 for an individual or $800 for married couples filing jointly in their 2009 paychecks--and will continue to see these benefits in 2010.

Expanded family tax credits--moderate income families with children may be eligible for an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit and the additional Child Tax Credit.

Tax-free unemployment benefits--thanks to the Recovery Act, individuals who received unemployment insurance in 2009 do not have to pay taxes on the first $2,400 of such earnings.

I firmly believe that unemployment benefits should never be taxed and I pledge to work in

the coming tax year to enact legislation that would do away with this tax forever. In the meantime, I will continue to work with my colleagues to enact additional middle class tax cuts, like the Recovery Act and the Tax Assistance Act of 2010. I encourage my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, which will make a few small, but important changes to the administration of our tax laws.

There is no question that April 15th is the most feared date on the Calendar. It is viewed with dread for good reason.

The tax code is mind-numbingly confusing. It is a maze of forms and schedules and instructions that turns the simplest tax form into a lengthy challenge and that forces millions of Americans to turn to help, whether from an accountant, a professional tax preparer, or one of the many computer software programs designed for this purpose.

The bill before us does make a few good changes to the code, including a provision long championed by Congressman Sam Johnson, a true American hero, that will end the long outdated requirement that employers record and report their employees' personal use of company- provided cell phones and Blackberries.

Another provision worthy of support will require the IRS to notify taxpayers they suspect have been victims of identify theft. That certainly makes sense.

And for those taxpayers who do file their returns electronically, this bill will shorten the time the IRS has to pay refunds before interest accrues. This is a taxpayer friendly provision that will encourage electronic filing, which is both faster and cheaper for the government.

Finally, let me express my thanks to Congressman Becerra for making some changes to this bill that helped secure my support.

As introduced, the bill would have established a new authorization of up to $20 million per year to fund Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Centers. The IRS has funded these programs in the past without authorization, which is troubling enough. But of even more concern is the fact that ACORN was a recipient of these funds.

Today, we know how badly ACORN was abusing the public trust, and I do applaud the IRS for heeding our call and canceling those contracts when the extent of ACORN's misconduct came to light.

But I don't yet have confidence that the government will avoid a similar mistake in the future and again fund groups like ACORN. Simply put, Congress should not authorize these grants until we know who will be receiving them and how they will be used.

And so I thank Mr. Becerra for agreeing to remove this language to allow the Congress to examine the issue more closely.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the bill.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I would like to thank the Ways and Means chairman for making my commonsense cell phone fix the cornerstone of the Taxpayer Assistance Act of 2010. Members may recognize this provision as a bipartisan bill, H.R. 690, the Mobile Cell Phone Act, which I have introduced with Mr. Pomeroy.

As we all know, in today's 24/7 economy, cell phones and BlackBerrys have become the modern version of landline office phones. And yet, unlike landline phones, workers and their employees are supposed to keep detailed call logs

or else they will face the wrath of the IRS. This means a business can lose its deduction while a worker can face taxes for making personal calls. This is just wrong. We don't want to nickel and dime workers for making the occasional personal call from a desk, and we shouldn't for cell phones either.

Times have changed since Congress passed this rule in 1989 when people carried phones in a suitcase. I used to carry one myself when I was in the Air Force, and I could hardly carry it because it was so heavy. They were used by the likes of high-flying corporate executives and cost a small fortune.

Even the IRS gets it that times have changed. In fact, last June, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said in his statement, ``The passage of time, advances in technology, and the nature of communication in the modern workplace have rendered this law obsolete.'' There you have it; even the IRS Commissioner believes that this law needs to be changed.

This provision will especially help our Nation's small businesses. According to an NFIB poll, nearly four out of five small businesses use a cell phone for work. Now more than ever we need to stop penalizing our job-creating entrepreneurs with this ridiculous tax rule. Startup small businesses and their employees have better things to do with their time than track each and every call they make, and they shouldn't have to spend time worrying that the IRS will hit them with taxes for personal calls. Even the administration agrees, as they included this proposal in their budget.

So how about let's do away with this outdated, obsolete tax rule once and for all.