Fair Flat Tax Act of 2006
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Fair Flat Tax Act of 2006 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the individual income tax system by: (1) reducing the number of individual income tax brackets to three (15, 25 & 35%); (2) repealing after 2005 the tax rate reductions for capital gains and dividend income; (3) repealing various tax credits, deductions, exclusions and preferences; (4) increasing the basic standard tax deduction; (5) allowing families with dependent children a standard tax credit amount based on family size or modified adjusted gross income; (6) allowing a tax credit for higher education expenses; (7) allowing non-itemizing taxpayers a tax deduction for home mortgage interest and for contributions to tax-exempt universal pension accounts; (8) allowing certain small employers a tax credit for costs associated with universal pension accounts; and (9) repealing the alternative minimum tax for individual taxpayers.
Imposes a flat tax of 35% on corporate taxable income. Limits tax write-offs for use of corporate aircraft and employee personal use of noncommercial aircraft. Requires governmental agencies to withhold 3% of payments made for goods and services.
Imposes penalties for promoting abusive tax shelters and for aiding and abetting the understatement of tax liability. Increases tax penalties for fraud and failure to file tax returns. Defines "economic substance" for purposes of evaluating tax shelter transactions.
Eliminates amortization of geological and geophysical expenditures for integrated oil companies. Requires such oil companies to adjust the value of LIFO inventories of crude oil, natural gas, and other petroleum products.
Requires an inflation adjustment to the excise tax on distilled spirits, beer, wine, and tobacco.
Terminates this Act after 2010.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 25, 2006. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 25, 2006: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) introduced it on April 25, 2006. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 25, 2006, 7443 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7443 days ago, on April 25, 2006.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers