Second Regular Session
Sixty-first General Assembly
LLS NO. R980425.01 GWF
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVE Spradley
FINANCE
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 98-1020
WHEREAS, The procedures for the assessment and collection
of federal taxes and the method of refunding such taxes under
the federal Internal Revenue Code is beyond repair; and
WHEREAS, The current federal Internal Revenue Code
contains seven million words and eight thousand pages, making
this system of taxation foreign, complicated, and unfair; and
WHEREAS, Complying with federal tax laws each year
is a twohundredbilliondollar business, causing
taxpayers to spend 5.4 billion hours on tax matters, which is
more working hours than is needed by the nation's entire automobile
industry; and
WHEREAS, The Internal Revenue Service is twice the
size of the Central Intelligence Agency and five times as big
as the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
WHEREAS, Taxpayers are hopelessly bogged down with
complying with the instructions of the Internal Revenue Service's
"simplest" income tax return, the 1040EZ Form, and the
even more massive instructions of the IRS 1040 Form; and
WHEREAS, Because of the harsh and arbitrary way in
which the Internal Revenue Code is written, individual taxpayers
and businesses are forced to go to unusual extremes simply trying
to comply with the filing requirements specified in the Code;
and
WHEREAS, The current system of federal taxation under
the Internal Revenue Code burdens taxpayers with taxes that are
too high; and
WHEREAS, Any steps taken by the federal government
to lower taxes by modifying the existing Code would complicate
the system even more; and
WHEREAS, There is an urgent need to develop a system
of federal taxation within a time frame that is both adequate
and specific and that pertains to everything connected with federal
taxes, including the paying of taxes, the furnishing of records,
and the withholding of wages; that is not deceptive or misleading;
that does not burden the taxpayer with unnecessary misstatements
and misleading references to specific code sections; and that
does not convey an erroneous legal meaning through the word "must";
now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives
of the Sixtyfirst General Assembly of the State of Colorado,
the Senate concurring herein:
(1) That we, the members of the General
Assembly, urge the Congress of the United States to enact legislation
to abolish the Internal Revenue Code by December 31, 2000, and
to replace it with a new system of federal taxation, which, in
essence, will:
(a) Make it clear to taxpayers which information
is required by law to disclose and the authority for the requirement;
(b) Lower federal taxes, thereby creating
job opportunities;
(c) Foster growth by encouraging work
and savings;
(d) Be fair for all taxpayers;
(e) Be simple enough for all taxpayers
to understand;
(f) Allow the people, not government,
to make or expand their choices with respect to developing and
implementing a new system of federal taxation;
(g) Be visible so people know the cost
of government;
(h) Provide stability so that people can
plan for the future.
Be It Further Resolved, That
we, the members of the General Assembly, urge other states to
request the abolishment of the current Internal Revenue Code and
to request the development of a new income tax code that would
provide a new system of assessing and collecting taxes and of
refunding taxes.
Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Resolution be forwarded to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress and to each member of Colorado's Congressional delegation.