U.S. House Votes to Repeal Estate Tax

Today in Washington, D.C. - April 16, 2015:
The House reconvened today at 9 AM. They will be addressing more bills relative to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today. Yesterday House Republican majority sent a clear message they want the IRS reformed.

Today at 12:11 PM the U.S. House voted 240 - 179 to Repeal the Death Tax; H.R. 1105 — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, and for other purposes." Republican led the effort with 223 Yes votes while 176 Democrats opposed families keeping their own money.

Passed earlier today: H.R. 622 (272-152) - "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the deduction of State and local general sales taxes."

Yesterday the House passed:
H.R. 1026 (242-182) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the release of information regarding the status of certain investigations."
H.R. 1058 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that a duty of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is to ensure that Internal Revenue Service employees are familiar with and act in accord with certain taxpayer rights."
H.R. 1104 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a deduction from the gift tax for gifts made to certain exempt organizations."
H.R. 1152 (Voice Vote) — "To prohibit officers and employees of the Internal Revenue Service from using personal email accounts to conduct official business."
H.R. 1295 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the process for making determinations with respect to whether organizations are exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(4) of such Code."
H.R. 1314 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a right to an administrative appeal relating to adverse determinations of tax-exempt status of certain organizations."
H.R. 1562 (424-0) — "To prohibit the awarding of a contract or grant in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor or grantee has no seriously delinquent tax debts, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1563 (266-160) — "To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that individuals having seriously delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment, and for other purposes."
H.R. 709 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for the termination of employment of employees of the Internal Revenue Service who take certain official actions for political purposes."

Speaker Boehner previously noted: "A few things happened on the way to Tax Day:

• First, we learned that the IRS rehired hundreds of employees who were previously fired for misconduct issues.
• Second, the IRS was forced to apologize for “seizing banks accounts from otherwise law-abiding business owners.
• Third, the Justice Department declined to prosecute former IRS official Lois Lerner, continuing to sweep the targeting of taxpayers for their political beliefs under the rug. Indeed, hardworking Americans remain vulnerable to IRS abuse, especially at a time when filing a tax return “appears more complicated than ever.

"That’s why, as Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) announced the people’s House will mark Tax Day “by passing a series of commonsense bills to rein in IRS abuse, protect taxpayer rights, and hold agency employees accountable for misconduct.”

"Here’s a quick rundown of how these measures, which were approved by the Ways & Means Committee last month, will help taxpayers:
A Taxpayer Bill of Rights - Right now, when dealing with the IRS, taxpayers lack some basic protections under the law, including the right to quality service, the right to confidentiality, and the right to appeal and have their challenge be heard. Rep. Roskam’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act will change this by codifying a strong set of basic rights for taxpayers. “After a difficult period for the IRS,” National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson says, “a Taxpayer Bill of Rights has the potential to restore taxpayers’ trust in both the IRS and the tax system.”

Make Targeting a Firing Offense - Rehiring hundreds of employees who were previously fired for misconduct issues showed that accountability is still sorely lacking at the IRS. The Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act, authored by Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH), would authorize the IRS to terminate employees who engage in political targeting. “Political targeting contradicts the very principles this country was founded upon,” Renacci says, “and there is no room for it in our democracy. It will not be tolerated.”

No Personal Email for Official IRS Business - Days before the revelations regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of personal e-mail for official business, Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX) introduced legislation to prevent IRS employees from doing the same. This wasn’t just a prescient move: Lois Lerner also engaged in the practice, and the IRS has no outright ban on e-mailing outside its network. Marchant says, “The last thing hardworking taxpayers should have to worry about is the security of their confidential information being compromised due to IRS negligence or abuse.”

An Impartial, Two-Way Process - In addition to being freed from one-sided targeting, nonprofit organizations seeking tax-exempt status deserve an impartial application review process. If your application is turned down, you should be able to directly petition the IRS and get a fair hearing. Legislation introduced by Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA) would establish such common-sense protections and, in his words, send “the clear signal that no American or group of Americans shall be targeted by their IRS for their political views.”

The Right to Know - One of the first things we learned about Lois Lerner was that her division shared highly confidential tax-exempt applications with an outside organization. It also shared confidential information with the FEC. The Taxpayer Knowledge of IRS Investigations Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), affords taxpayers the right to know the status of investigations pertaining to their personal information.

No More Indefinite Delays - “Justice delayed is justice denied.” That’s how one retired IRS veteran described the IRS’s treatment of nonprofit organizations that have been waiting years to be granted tax-exempt status without any resolution. Leaving groups in limbo hurts their ability to recruit members and raise funds. The IRS Bureaucracy Reduction and Judicial Review Act, authored by Rep. George Holding (R-NC), would allow organizations to declare their tax-exempt status rather than wait for bureaucratic approval.

Fair Treatment For All Gifts - As part of its effort to target Americans for their political beliefs, the IRS has threatened to apply a gift tax to donations to nonprofit organizations. Rep. Roskam’s Fair Treatment for All Gifts Act will prevent this abuse of power by ensuring that all donations to nonprofit organizations are tax-free.
The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today and resumed consideration of S. 178, the bipartisan Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which Democrats have filibustered repeatedly for the last month.

At 2 PM the Senate will vote on the nominations of Russell Deyo to be Under Secretary for Management at the Department of Homeland Security and Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri to be Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 54-43 to agree to the motion to go to conference with the House on the budget (S. Con. Res. 11) and appoint conferees. They also voted on 8 motions to instruct the budget conferees.offered by: Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to end “too big to fail” by a vote of 86-11; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to prevent USPS postal plant closures by a vote of 85-11; Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) to simplify student loan repayment options by a vote of 97-0; Sen. Sanders to prevent cuts to Social Security by a vote of 84-13; and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) to prevent retaliation against employees who share salary information by a vote of 57-40.

The Senate rejected motions to instruct conferees offered by: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to raise taxes in order to allow the government to refinance student loans by a vote of 45-52; Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) to include Democrats’ so-called “equal pay” legislation to allow more lawsuits by a vote of 44-53; and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to prevent any changes to Medicare by a vote of 45-52.

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