Hidden In The Highway Bill Passed In March

Thomas.gov posts the text of bills that have passed Congress. They also post the votes and other details about the bills. The Highway Bill that passed the Senate was S.1813. It passed on March 19th. There were a few things in the bill that should be of concern to Americans.

This is one part of the bill I am concerned about:

SEC. 7345. REVOCATION OR DENIAL OF PASSPORT IN CASE OF CERTAIN TAX DELINQUENCIES.

    `(a) In General- If the Secretary receives certification by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that any individual has a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000, the Secretary shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of State for action with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation of a passport pursuant to section 4 of the Act entitled `An Act to regulate the issue and validity of passports, and for other purposes’, approved July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a et seq.), commonly known as the `Passport Act of 1926′.
    `(b) Seriously Delinquent Tax Debt- For purposes of this section, the term `seriously delinquent tax debt’ means an outstanding debt under this title for which a notice of lien has been filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 or a notice of levy has been filed pursuant to section 6331, except that such term does not include–
    `(1) a debt that is being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement under section 6159 or 7122, and
    `(2) a debt with respect to which collection is suspended because a collection due process hearing under section 6330, or relief under subsection (b), (c), or (f) of section 6015, is requested or pending.
    `(c) Adjustment for Inflation- In the case of a calendar year beginning after 2012, the dollar amount in subsection (a) shall be increased by an amount equal to–
    `(1) such dollar amount, multiplied by
    `(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year, determined by substituting `calendar year 2011′ for `calendar year 1992′ in subparagraph (B) thereof.
    If any amount as adjusted under the preceding sentence is not a multiple of $1,000, such amount shall be rounded to the next highest multiple of $1,000.’.
    (b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for subchapter D of chapter 75 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
    `Sec. 7345. Revocation or denial of passport in case of certain tax delinquencies.’.
    (c) Authority for Information Sharing-
    (1) IN GENERAL- Subsection (l) of section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    `(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION TO DEPARTMENT OF STATE FOR PURPOSES OF PASSPORT REVOCATION UNDER SECTION 7345-
    `(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall, upon receiving a certification described in section 7345, disclose to the Secretary of State return information with respect to a taxpayer who has a seriously delinquent tax debt described in such section. Such return information shall be limited to–
    `(i) the taxpayer identity information with respect to such taxpayer, and
    `(ii) the amount of such seriously delinquent tax debt.
    `(B) RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE- Return information disclosed under subparagraph (A) may be used by officers and employees of the Department of State for the purposes of, and to the extent necessary in, carrying out the requirements of section 4 of the Act entitled `An Act to regulate the issue and validity of passports, and for other purposes’, approved July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a et seq.), commonly known as the `Passport Act of 1926′.’.
    (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Paragraph (4) of section 6103(p) of such Code is amended by striking `or (22)’ each place it appears in subparagraph (F)(ii) and in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting `(22), or (23)’.
    (d) Revocation Authorization- The Act entitled `An Act to regulate the issue and validity of passports, and for other purposes’, approved July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a et seq.), commonly known as the `Passport Act of 1926′, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO DENY OR REVOKE PASSPORT.

    `(a) Ineligibility-
    `(1) ISSUANCE- Except as provided under subsection (b), upon receiving a certification described in section 7345 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 from the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State may not issue a passport or passport card to any individual who has a seriously delinquent tax debt described in such section.
    `(2) REVOCATION- The Secretary of State shall revoke a passport or passport card previously issued to any individual described in subparagraph (A).
    `(b) Exceptions-
    `(1) EMERGENCY AND HUMANITARIAN SITUATIONS- Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary of State may issue a passport or passport card, in emergency circumstances or for humanitarian reasons, to an individual described in subsection (a)(1).
    `(2) LIMITATION FOR RETURN TO UNITED STATES- Notwithstanding subsection (a)(2), the Secretary of State, before revocation, may–
    `(A) limit a previously issued passport or passport card only for return travel to the United States; or
    `(B) issue a limited passport or passport card that only permits return travel to the United States.’.
    (e) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall take effect on January 1, 2013.

Note that this portion of the bill does not take effect until January 1, 2013–after the November election.

In September 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported:

Privacy laws prevent release of individual tax delinquents’ names. But we do know that as of the end of 2009, 41 people inside Obama’s very own White House owe the government they’re allegedly running a total of $831,055 in back taxes. That would cover a lot of special chocolate desserts in the White House Mess.

In the House of Representatives, 421 people owe a total $6,524,892. In the Senate, 217 owe $2,774,836. In the IRS’ parent department, Treasury, 1,204 owe $7,670,814. At the Labor Department, where Secretary Hilda Solis’ husband had some back-tax problems before her confirmation, 463 owe $7,481,463. Eighty-one workers for the Federal Reserve System’s board of governors owe $1,076,733.

Over at the Justice Department, which is so busy enforcing other laws and suing Arizona, 1,971 employees still owe $14,350,152 in overdue taxes.

Does this new law apply to those people?

 

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