Congress Passed HR-4646, The Debt Free America Act, That Proposes a 1% Tax On All Financial Institution Transactions- Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Various forwarded emails that say that we will soon be paying a 1% tax on all transactions conducted with financial institutions.
The Truth:
There was a bill in the 111th Congress, House Bill, HR-4646, the Debt Free America Act, that was introduced on February 23, 2010, but it died in committee and was never voted on or passed into law. Some versions of this eRumor allege that the bill was being sneaked into law by members of Congress but that is also fiction.
The bill was sponsored by Democratic Congressional Representative Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania and says that it is to “establish a fee on transactions which would eliminate the national debt and replace the income tax on individuals.” Fattah has a description of the bill along with a press release posted on his Congressional web site. Fattah is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, not President Obama’s finance team, as some eRumors alleged.
The Thomas Library is the official site where legislative bills are posted and progress can be monitored. The bill can easily be found and currently the Thomas Library site shows that the Debt Free America Act is in the House committee and then will be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committees on the Budget, Rules, and Appropriations. Click here for the Thomas Library for text and status of the bill.
The Debt Free America Act HR-4646 can also be found at the Govtrack US site, a civic project that tracks legislative activity. Click for Govtrack.us information on HR-4646.
updated 10/9/11