House Bill 4139

    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HM 4139

        By Representatives Feeney, Valdes, Thrasher, King, Morse,
    Fasano, Futch, Ball, Warner, Bitner, Maygarden, Arnall,
    Livingston, Bronson, Byrd, Constantine, Saunders, Harrington,
    Ziebarth, Wise, Smith, Crady, Mackey, Burroughs, Peaden,
    (Additional Sponsors on Last Printed Page)


  1                          House Memorial

  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 which the average

  6         citizen can comply with and understand without

  7         having to retain professional assistance.

  8

  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; however, any steps to lower taxes by

28  modifying the existing tax code would make it even longer and

29  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 House of Representatives - 1998                HM 4139

    76-182-98






  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 which will abolish the current Internal

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

  6  new 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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25                       ADDITIONAL SPONSORS

26
    Tamargo, Culp, Kelly, K. Pruitt, Starks, Cosgrove, Murman,
27
    Argenziano, Putnam, Bainter and Wiles
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