The Fair Tax Act, Part XXVI
Trying to get back in the saddle here, but this part of the bill is, admittedly, boring. Section 406 lists some rules regarding statute precedence and how long it takes for new statutes to take effect:
`SEC. 406. GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.
`(a) In General- The Secretary and each sales tax administering authority may employ such persons as may be necessary for the administration of this subtitle and may delegate to employees the authority to conduct interviews, hearings, prescribe rules, promulgate regulations, and perform such other duties as are required by this subtitle.
`(b) Resolution of Any Inconsistent Rules and Regulations- In the event that the Secretary and any sales tax administering authority have issued inconsistent rules or regulations, any lawful rule or regulation issued by the Secretary shall govern.
`(c) Adequate Notice To Be Provided- Except in the case of an emergency declared by the Secretary (and not his designee), no rule or regulation issued by the Secretary with respect to any internal revenue law shall take effect before 90 days have elapsed after its publication in the Federal Register. Upon issuance, the Secretary shall provide copies of all rules or regulations issued under this title to each sales tax administering authority.
`(d) No Rules, Rulings, or Regulations With Retroactive Effect- No rule, ruling, or regulation issued or promulgated by the Secretary relating to any internal revenue law or by a sales tax administering authority shall apply to a period prior to its publication in the Federal Register (or State equivalent) except that a regulation may take retroactive effect to prevent abuse.
The next bit is somewhat interesting because it requires that any statute put forth by the Treasury has to go through the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration, apparently to get his (their?) input on impacts to small business prior to making a statute effective. I don’t know if this is a practice in current use today or not (I know we have other tax advocate positions in the IRS today).
`(e) Review of Impact of Regulations, Rules, and Rulings on Small Business-
`(1) SUBMISSION TO SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION- After publication of any proposed or temporary regulation by the Secretary relating to internal revenue laws, the Secretary shall submit such regulation to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on the impact of such regulation on small businesses. Not later than the date 30 days after the date of such submission, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration shall submit comments on such regulation to the Secretary.
`(2) CONSIDERATION OF COMMENTS- In prescribing any final regulation which supersedes a proposed or temporary regulation which had been submitted under this subsection to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration, the Secretary shall–
`(A) consider the comments of the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration on such proposed or temporary regulation, and
`(B) in promulgating such final regulation, include a narrative that describes the response to such comments.
`(3) SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN FINAL REGULATION- In the case of promulgation by the Secretary of any final regulations (other than a temporary regulation) which do not supersede a proposed regulation, the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply, except that the submission under paragraph (1) shall be made at least 30 days before the date of such promulgation, and the consideration and discussion required under paragraph (2) shall be made in connection with the promulgation of such final regulation.
`(f) Small Business Regulatory Safeguards- The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (Public Law 104-121; 110 Stat. 857 (`SBREFA’)) and the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612 (`RFA’)) shall apply to regulations promulgated under this subtitle.
A small section remains in Chapter 4 and then we can get into some more mechanical details (which some people like).
