Presidential Tax Transparency Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 20 To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the disclosure of certain tax returns by Presidents and certain candidates for the office of the President, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. COONS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. KAINE, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the disclosure of certain tax returns by Presidents and certain candidates for the office of the President, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Tax 4 Transparency Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 20 IS SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURNS BY PRESIDENTS 1 AND CERTAIN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Ethics in Govern- 3 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 4 (1) by inserting after section 102 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 102A. DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURNS. 6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered candidate’ means an in- 8 dividual— 9 ‘‘(A) required to file a report under section 10 101(c); and 11 ‘‘(B) who is nominated by a major party 12 as a candidate for the office of President; 13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) a President required to file a report 15 under subsection (a) or (d) of section 101; and 16 ‘‘(B) an individual who occupies the office 17 of the President required to file a report under 18 section 101(e); 19 ‘‘(3) the term ‘major party’ has the meaning 20 given the term in section 9002 of the Internal Rev- 21 enue Code of 1986; and 22 ‘‘(4) the term ‘income tax return’ means, with 23 respect to any covered candidate or covered indi- 24 vidual, any return (within the meaning of section 25 6103(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 20 IS lated to Federal income taxes, but does not in- 1 clude— 2 ‘‘(A) information returns issued to persons 3 other than such covered candidate or covered 4 individual; and 5 ‘‘(B) declarations of estimated tax. 6 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE.— 7 ‘‘(1) COVERED INDIVIDUALS.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the in- 9 formation described in subsections (a) and (b) 10 of section 102, a covered individual shall in- 11 clude in each report required to be filed under 12 this title a copy of the income tax returns of the 13 covered individual for the 3 most recent taxable 14 years for which a return has been filed with the 15 Internal Revenue Service as of the date on 16 which the report is filed. 17 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If an in- 18 come tax return is not disclosed under subpara- 19 graph (A), the Director of the Office of Govern- 20 ment Ethics shall submit to the Secretary of 21 the Treasury a request that the Secretary of 22 the Treasury provide the Director of the Office 23 of Government Ethics with a copy of the in- 24 come tax return. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 20 IS ‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—Each income 1 tax return submitted under this paragraph shall 2 be filed with the Director of the Office of Gov- 3 ernment Ethics and made publicly available in 4 the same manner as the information described 5 in subsections (a) and (b) of section 102. 6 ‘‘(D) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA- 7 TION.—Before making any income tax return 8 submitted under this paragraph available to the 9 public, the Director of the Office of Government 10 Ethics shall redact such information as the Di- 11 rector of the Office of Government Ethics, in 12 consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury 13 (or a delegate of the Secretary), determines ap- 14 propriate. 15 ‘‘(2) CANDIDATES.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 17 days after the date on which a covered can- 18 didate is nominated, the covered candidate shall 19 amend the report filed by the covered candidate 20 under section 101(c) with the Federal Election 21 Commission to include a copy of the income tax 22 returns of the covered candidate for the 3 most 23 recent taxable years for which a return has 24 been filed with the Internal Revenue Service. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 20 IS ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If an in- 1 come tax return is not disclosed under subpara- 2 graph (A) the Federal Election Commission 3 shall submit to the Secretary of the Treasury a 4 request that the Secretary of the Treasury pro- 5 vide the Federal Election Commission with the 6 income tax return. 7 ‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—Each income 8 tax return submitted under this paragraph shall 9 be filed with the Federal Election Commission 10 and made publicly available in the same manner 11 as the information described in section 102(b). 12 ‘‘(D) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA- 13 TION.—Before making any income tax return 14 submitted under this paragraph available to the 15 public, the Federal Election Commission shall 16 redact such information as the Federal Election 17 Commission, in consultation with the Secretary 18 of the Treasury (or a delegate of the Secretary) 19 and the Director of the Office of Government 20 Ethics, determines appropriate. 21 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR SITTING PRESI- 22 DENTS.—Not later than 30 days after the date of 23 enactment of this section, the President shall submit 24 to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 20 IS a copy of the income tax returns described in para- 1 graph (1)(A).’’; and 2 (2) in section 104— 3 (A) in subsection (a)— 4 (i) in paragraph (1), in the first sen- 5 tence, by inserting ‘‘or any individual who 6 knowingly and willfully falsifies or who 7 knowingly and willfully fails to file an in- 8 come tax return that such individual is re- 9 quired to disclose pursuant to section 10 102A’’ before the period; and 11 (ii) in paragraph (2)(A)— 12 (I) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘or 13 falsify any income tax return that 14 such person is required to disclose 15 under section 102A’’ before the semi- 16 colon; and 17 (II) in clause (ii), by inserting 18 ‘‘or fail to file any income tax return 19 that such person is required to dis- 20 close under section 102A’’ before the 21 period; 22 (B) in subsection (b), in the first sentence 23 by inserting ‘‘or willfully failed to file or has 24 willfully falsified an income tax return required 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 20 IS to be disclosed under section 102A’’ before the 1 period; 2 (C) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or fail- 3 ing to file or falsifying an income tax return re- 4 quired to be disclosed under section 102A’’ be- 5 fore the period; and 6 (D) in subsection (d)(1)— 7 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 8 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or files an income 9 tax return required to be disclosed under 10 section 102A’’ after ‘‘title’’; and 11 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 12 ‘‘or such income tax return, as applicable,’’ 13 after ‘‘report’’. 14 (b) AUTHORITY TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(l) of the Inter- 16 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 17 the end the following new paragraph: 18 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION 19 OF PRESIDENTS AND CERTAIN PRESIDENTIAL CAN- 20 DIDATES.— 21 ‘‘(A) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF PRESI- 22 DENTS.— 23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 24 shall, upon written request from the Direc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 20 IS tor of the Office of Government Ethics 1 pursuant to section 102A(b)(1)(B) of the 2 Ethics in Government Act of 1978, provide 3 to officers and employees of the Office of 4 Government Ethics a copy of any income 5 tax return of the President which is re- 6 quired to be filed under section 102A of 7 such Act. 8 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE TO PUBLIC.—The 9 Director of the Office of Government Eth- 10 ics may disclose to the public the income 11 tax return of any President which is re- 12 quired to be filed with the Director pursu- 13 ant to section 102A of the Ethics in Gov- 14 ernment Act of 1978. 15 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF CER- 16 TAIN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 18 shall, upon written request from the Chair- 19 man of the Federal Election Commission 20 pursuant to section 102A(b)(2)(B) of the 21 Ethics in Government Act of 1978, provide 22 to officers and employees of the Federal 23 Election Commission copies of the applica- 24 ble returns of any person who has been 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 20 IS nominated as a candidate of a major party 1 (as defined in section 9002(a)) for the of- 2 fice of President. 3 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE TO PUBLIC.—The 4 Federal Election Commission may disclose 5 to the public applicable returns of any per- 6 son who has been nominated as a can- 7 didate of a major party (as defined in sec- 8 tion 9002(6)) for the office of President 9 and which is required to be filed with the 10 Commission pursuant to section 102A of 11 the Ethics in Government Act. 12 ‘‘(C) APPLICABLE RETURNS.—For pur- 13 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘applicable re- 14 turns’ means, with respect to any candidate for 15 the office of President, income tax returns for 16 the 3 most recent taxable years for which a re- 17 turn has been filed as of the date of the nomi- 18 nation.’’. 19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 20 6103(p)(4) of such Code, in the matter preceding 21 subparagraph (A) and in subparagraph (F)(ii), is 22 amended by striking ‘‘or (22)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22), 23 or (23)’’ each place it appears. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:39 Jan 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S20.IS S20 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS