Small Business Penalty Fairness Act of 2009
Latest action. Held at the desk.
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Small Business Penalty Fairness Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the penalty for failure to disclose a reportable transaction (a transaction determined by the Internal Revenue Service [IRS] as having a potential for tax avoidance or evasion) to 75% of the decrease in tax shown on the return as a result of such transaction. Sets forth a maximum penalty for failure to report a reportable transaction and a minimum and maximum penalty for failure to report a listed transaction (a transaction specifically identified by the IRS as a tax avoidance transaction).
Requires the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to report by June 1, 2010, and then annually, to Congress on penalties relating to abusive tax shelters and reportable transactions.
Extends the penalty for tendering a bad check to the Internal Revenue Service to any commercially acceptable payment instrument (including electronic payments).
Expands the continuous tax levy on payments to vendors for goods and services to include payments for all property, goods, or services.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate without amendment" stage on February 9, 2010. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Held at the desk.
Civibrief does not map this action to a stage in the process. See the official record.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
The latest action on file does not map to a stage Civibrief recognizes, so the page will not name one. The record's own words are the reliable fact here.
The record's latest action, on February 22, 2010: Held at the desk.
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 111th Congress (2009-10), 383 of the 10,778 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.6 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps 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?
MAX BAUCUS (D-MT) introduced it on December 18, 2009, and 12 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 4 Democrats, 8 Republicans.
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 December 18, 2009, 6110 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 6044 days ago, on February 22, 2010.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 111th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2011 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
- SenateHeld at the desk.
- HouseNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action