Sen. Brown calls for bill requiring government to give taxpayers receipts

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) on Thursday called on Congress to approve a bill that would require the government to give taxpayers a receipt that would show how much of their taxes went toward Defense, Social Security and other programs, as well as how much their share of the national debt increased over the last year.

"Taxpayers, like the Bay Staters here today, deserve to know how the government is spending their hard-earned money," Brown said at a Boston H&R Block office. "The national debt is a real danger to our economy, and the taxpayers who keep the government afloat should be clear about our country's finances and just how much debt we're shouldering.

"Americans pay more in taxes than they do on their own basic necessities, and the annual filing is always costly and time consuming," he added. "A receipt is the least the government can do to show taxpayers where their dollars are going."

Brown introduced the Taxpayer Receipt act, S. 437, last year with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). But while the bill picked up three sponsors — Sens. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — it never advanced in the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the bill.

The pending April 17 tax deadline has prompted other tax-related bills this week, including one from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) that would increase penalties against people who commit tax fraud, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has proposed a small-business taxpayer bill of rights.

The tax deadline was pushed back to April 17 this year because the April 15, usually Tax Day, falls on a holiday, and April 16 is a holiday in the District of Columbia.

---