Tax Lawyer's Blog

This one’s straight from Ripleys.

Paul Caron reports that the House of Representatives has just passed a bill titled The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (H.R. 946) which laudably requires government agencies to write public documents in “plain writing.” The bill defines plain writing as follows:

[W]riting that the intended audience can readily understand and use because it is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices of plain writing.

But, as Paul points out, the measure doesn’t apply to Treasury Regulations, the IRS’s official interpretation of the application of the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.

Here’s the bill in its entirety (emphasis added):

(2) COVERED DOCUMENT- The term `covered document’–

(A) means any document that–

(i) is relevant to obtaining any Federal Government benefit or service or filing taxes;

(ii) provides information about any Federal Government benefit or service; or

(iii) explains to the public how to comply with a requirement the Federal Government administers or enforces;

(B) includes (whether in paper or electronic form) a letter, publication, form, notice, or instruction; and

(C) does not include a regulation.

Let me put this in plain writing for you:

The House has drafted a bill that approves of the drafting by the IRS of regulations that are not written clearly, are not written concisely and are not written in a well-organized manner.

Stephen King himself couldn’t have made this up and he imagined a demon-possessed sports car that wasn’t even a Toyota.

Classic.

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