CONTENTS Child and disabled dependent care expenses_ Political campaign contributions_ Presidential election campaign fund.. Other tax relief measures for older Americans: Additional personal exemption for age. Older Americans Tax Counseling Assistance Act (S. 2868): PROTECTING OLDER AMERICANS AGAINST OVERPAYMENT OF INCOME TAXES (A Checklist of Itemized Deductions) Mr. CHURCH.* Mr. President, an estimated 78 million federal income tax returns will be filed during 1974. Practically all Americans will be affected in one way or nother. Recent hearings conducted by the Senate Committee on Aging provided disturbing evidence that large numbers of older Americans overpay their taxes for a variety of reasons. Some witnesses have estimated that perhaps one-half of all elderly individuals may pay more taxes than legally required. In far too many cases, these persons are totally unaware of helpful deductions which can save them precious dollars. Others are completely baffled by the complexity of the voluminous Internal Revenue Code-undoubtedly one of the most complicated statutes ever enacted. Without the benefit of effective counsel, this can be a nightmarish experience for the untrained or unsuspecting. The net impact is that many low- and moderate-income Americans overpay their taxes-while the very powerful oftentimes pay little or no taxes at all. In 1971, for example, 72 returns with adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 or more escaped Federal income tax altogether. And, 1,286 returns with adjusted gross incomes of at least $50,000 paid no tax whatsoever. This favoritism for a privileged few must come to an end immediately. The aged, disabled, and other persons with moderate means have been shouldering a disproportionate share of the tax burden for far too long. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aging, I have been especially concerned about income tax overpayments by the elderly and others. To help provide protection against this serious problem, the Committee has prepared a helpful checklist of deductions which can save aged taxpayers hundreds or perhaps even thousands of dollars. This listing, I want to stress, is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of all available deductions for every conceivable circumstance. But it can provide a helpful checklist for persons who itemize their allowable expenses. *Statements made on Senate floor on Jan. 21, 1974, by Senator Frank Church, chairman, Senate Special Committee on Aging; and Senator Hiram Fong, ranking minority member of the committee. Checklist appears on pp. 4–9. It can also provide guidance to determine whether it would be to the advantage of the taxpayer to itemize his deductions or take the standard deduction or low-income allowance. Additionally, this summary can be useful for all age groups because most tax provisions apply with equal force to the young as well as the old. The Committee has also prepared a brief description of additional tax relief provisions for older Americans. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Aging's checklist of allowable deductions for schedule A and the summary of other tax relief provisions for older Americans be inserted at this point* in the record. INCOME TAXES AND OLDER AMERICANS Mr. FONG. Mr. President, within the next several weeks millions of older Americans will, along with other citizens. be filing their income tax returns for 1973. In 1972, the latest year for which figures are available. persons over 65 filed 6,768,995 returns. The total number of persons over 65 covered by these returns was 8,687,236. Spouses under 65 filing through joint returns would make the total number of persons represented by the returns even higher. These figures show how important a factor the income tax law is in the lives of older Americans despite efforts in recent years to simplify tax collecting procedures and reduce the number of persons required to make returns. It emphasizes that when we who are members of the Special Committee on Aging concern ourselves with the tax problems of older persons, it is a matter of some consequence. Information gathered by the Committee on Aging over the year indicates that sometimes as many as half of the over-65 taxpayers may have overpaid their Federal income taxes. In part this comes from the inevitable complication of tax return forms when Congress tries to give equitable tax treatment to older persons through the retirement income tax credit, special treatment on capital gains through sale of a home, and other tax relief provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Despite persistent efforts by the Internal Revenue Service to simplify tax returns, with strong encouragement from the Special Committee on Aging, there is no doubt that persons over 65 face an individual tax return problem more complicated than that of younger taxpayers. |