Senate Bill 1866

    Florida Senate - 1998        (NP)                      SM 1866

    By Senators Crist, Diaz-Balart, Grant, Lee, Brown-Waite,
    Ostalkiewicz, Cowin and Clary




    20-1161-98                                              See HM

  1                     Senate Memorial No.     

  2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States

  3         urging Congress to sunset the current Internal

  4         Revenue Code by December 31, 2000, and develop

  5         a simple replacement tax code that the average

  6         citizen can comply with and understand without

  7         having to retain professional assistance.

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  9         WHEREAS, the current Internal Revenue Code is the heart

10  of the frustration and distrust the American people feel

11  toward their government, and

12         WHEREAS, the current Internal Revenue Code is beyond

13  comprehension even by trained legal accountants, and

14         WHEREAS, the current tax code is 7,000,000 words,

15  compared to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which has only 269

16  words, and the Declaration of Independence, which has only

17  1,337 words, and

18         WHEREAS, the Internal Revenue Service's "simplest"

19  return, the EZ Form 1040, has 33 pages of instructions, and

20  the IRS Form 1040 has 76 pages of instructions, and

21         WHEREAS, to simply comply with the current tax code,

22  individual taxpayers spend 1.7 billion hours and American

23  businesses spend 3.4 billion hours each year, equivalent to a

24  "staff" of 3 million people working full time, year round, and

25         WHEREAS, in 1948 a family of four at the median income

26  paid 2 percent of its income in taxes, and in 1994 that figure

27  was up to 25 percent, but any steps to lower taxes by

28  modifying the existing tax code would make the code even

29  longer and more confusing, and

30         WHEREAS, this proposal embodies a prudent method and

31  adequate time for developing a new tax code, NOW, THEREFORE,

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1998        (NP)                      SM 1866
    20-1161-98                                              See HM




  1  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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  3         That the Congress of the United States is requested to

  4  enact legislation that will abolish the current Internal

  5  Revenue Code by December 31, 2000, and replace it with a new

  6  method of taxation which will:

  7         (1)  Lower taxes, thereby creating job opportunities.

  8         (2)  Foster growth, which will encourage work and

  9  savings.

10         (3)  Be fair to all taxpayers.

11         (4)  Be simple enough for all taxpayers to understand.

12         (5)  Be neutral, by allowing people, not government, to

13  make choices.

14         (6)  Be visible, so people know the cost of government.

15         (7)  Be stable, so people can plan for the future.

16         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

17  dispatched to the President of the United States Senate, to

18  the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to

19  each member of the Florida delegation to the United States

20  Congress, and to the Legislatures of each of the states.

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