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Bill Would Eliminate IRS Penalties and Interest for All U.S. Taxpayers
Thursday, January 29, 2009
By Susan Jones, Associated Press
(CNSNews.com) - All U.S. taxpayers would enjoy the same immunity from IRS penalties and interest as Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner under a bill introduced Wednesday by Republican Rep. John Carter of Texas.
The bill has no chance of passing, but it makes a point: “We must show the American people that Congress is following the same law and the same legal process as we expect them to follow,” said Carter, a former Texas judge.
Under the proposed “Rangel Rule Act of 2009,” any taxpayer who wrote “Rangel Rule” on their return when paying back taxes would be immune from penalties and interest.
“If we don’t hold our highest elected officials to the same standards as regular working folks, we owe it to our constituents to change those standards so everyone is abiding by the same law,” the congressman said.
Carter also said the change in tax law would provide good economic stimulus benefits, “as it would free many taxpayers from massive debts to the IRS, restoring those funds to the free market to help create jobs.”
Rangel is currently under investigation by the House ethics committee for allegedly soliciting donations to his non-profit organization in exchange for legislative favors. He has admitted he failed to pay federal taxes on rental income from his beach house in the Dominican Republic. “I never had any idea that I got any income,” he told reporters at a press conference in September.
Republicans have demanded that Rangel step down as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees the nation’s tax laws, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to force him out.
Timothy Geithner was confirmed this week as U.S. Treasury Secretary despite his failure to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001 to 2004 while he worked for the International Monetary Fund. At his confirmation hearing, Geithner admitted he’d made “careless, avoidable” mistakes.
He repaid his $34,000 tax debt with interest, but the I.R.S. did not impose penalties.
(Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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