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115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 115-598
======================================================================
PROTECTING ACCESS TO THE COURTS FOR TAXPAYERS ACT
_______
March 14, 2018.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Goodlatte, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3996]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 3996) to amend title 28, United States Code, to
permit other courts to transfer certain cases to United States
Tax Court, having considered the same, report favorably thereon
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
Hearings......................................................... 2
Committee Consideration.......................................... 2
Committee Votes.................................................. 2
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 2
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................ 2
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 3
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 4
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings.............................. 4
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 4
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 4
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 4
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 4
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 3996 would expand the existing statutory authority for
Article III judges to transfer misfiled cases that belong in
Article III courts to cover misfiled tax cases that belong in
the United States Tax Court to that Court.
Background and Need for the Legislation
Current law grants Article III judges the authority to cure
jurisdictional errors for misfiled cases by transferring cases
to another Article III court, both as a matter of judicial
efficiency as well as to reduce the potential procedural harms
to a plaintiff who may otherwise miss a filing deadline if the
case cannot be transferred. However, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1631 does
not contain the necessary authority to transfer federal tax
cases to the United States Tax Court where venue is proper.
Every year, a limited number of typically pro se filers
file their tax cases in their nearest federal district court,
rather than the Tax Court. By the time the district court
recognizes the plaintiff's filing error and dismisses the
misfiled case, the taxpayer has usually missed the deadline to
timely refile in Tax Court, thereby depriving the taxpayer of
having their day in court. The Tax Court has identified this
issue with the Judicial Conference which is in support of this
change. By enacting the missing statutory authority for the
transfer of Tax Court cases, judicial efficiency will be
restored, taxpayers who misfile will not have to pay two filing
fees, and taxpayers will have their day in court even if they
initially file their case in the wrong venue. The Committee has
heard of no objections to resolving this issue for what may
impact only a few dozen taxpayers a year.
Hearings
The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H.R.
3996.
Committee Consideration
On October 12, 2017, the Committee met in open session and
ordered the bill, H.R. 3996, favorably reported without
amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of
H.R. 3996.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures
Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax
expenditures.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with
respect to the bill, H.R. 3996 the following estimate and
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, November 1, 2017.
Hon. Bob Goodlatte,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3996, the
Protecting Access to the Courts for Taxpayers Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Janani
Shankaran.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall.
Enclosure.
cc:
Honorable John Conyers Jr.
Ranking Member
H.R. 3996--Protecting Access to the Courts for Taxpayers Act
As ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on October
12, 2017
H.R. 3996 would authorize district court judges to transfer
to the U.S. Tax Court (USTC) cases for which the USTC has
jurisdiction. Under current law, certain federal tax payment
cases that are incorrectly filed with a district court must be
dismissed and refiled with the USTC.
According to the USTC, a small number of cases are
incorrectly filed each year. CBO estimates that any
administrative costs associated with transferring cases between
the district courts and the USTC would be insignificant and
would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Enacting H.R. 3996 would affect direct spending and
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. The USTC
collects a fee for each case filed within its jurisdiction;
those fees are recorded as revenues in the budget. Under
current law, the fees are deposited into a special Treasury
account for USTC activities and are spent without further
appropriation. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would
decrease USTC collections of filing fees, and the associated
direct spending, by an insignificant amount because cases
transferred from district courts would not require additional
filing fees. In addition, CBO expects that implementing the
bill could affect the timing of federal tax payments and
refunds associated with the transferred cases. However, CBO
estimates that the net effects would be insignificant for each
year.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3996 would not
significantly affect net direct spending or on-budget deficits
in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in
2028.
H.R. 3996 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani
Shankaran. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Duplication of Federal Programs
No provision of H.R. 3996 establishes or reauthorizes a
program of the Federal government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings
The Committee finds that H.R. 3996 contains no directed
rule making within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. Sec. 551.
Performance Goals and Objectives
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee states that H.R. 3996,
extends the existing judicial authority to transfer certain
misfiled cases to include misfiled Tax Court cases.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, H.R. 3996 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the bill as reported by
the Committee.
Section 1. Short Title. Section 1 sets forth the short
title of the bill as the ``Protecting Access to the Courts for
Taxpayers Act.''
Sec. 2. Section 2 amends 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1631, by adding a
new clause to the existing provision to enable Article III
courts to transfer cases within the jurisdiction of the United
States Tax Court to that court. The existing statutory
provision concerning maintaining the original filing date
applies to this newly added transfer authority.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
PART IV--JURISDICTION AND VENUE
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 99--GENERAL PROVISIONS
* * * * * * *
Sec. 1631. Transfer to cure want of jurisdiction
Whenever a civil action is filed in a court as defined in
section 610 of this title or an appeal, including a petition
for review of administrative action, is noticed for or filed
with such a court and that court finds that there is a want of
jurisdiction, the court shall, if it is in the interest of
justice, transfer such action or appeal to any other such court
(or, for cases within the jurisdiction of the United States Tax
Court, to that court) in which the action or appeal could have
been brought at the time it was filed or noticed, and the
action or appeal shall proceed as if it had been filed in or
noticed for the court to which it is transferred on the date
upon which it was actually filed in or noticed for the court
from which it is transferred.
* * * * * * *
