Installment Sales Revision Act of 1980 Statement on Signing H.R. 6883 Into Law.

I have signed H.R. 6883, the Installment Sales Revision Act of 1980. This bill is the first step in a continuing effort to clarify and simplify our enormously complex tax laws.

The reporting of gain on sales for future payment has been a model of pointless complexity, primarily due to the lack of a coordinated taxing structure. The inexperienced were often unable to take advantage of beneficial provisions of the law because of technical difficulties, while the unscrupulous were able to exploit its ambiguity in order to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

The new legislation specifies that unless a taxpayer otherwise elects, income from a sale will be recognized as payments are received. This general rule expands the availability of the deferred reporting privilege, does away with many of the uncertainties and confusing provisions of the present law, and eliminates much fertile ground for error, abuse, and litigation.

Congress and the administration have worked for 2 years with legal and accounting associations and with organizations representing the banking industry, farmers, cattlemen, and small businesses to revise this confusing area of tax law.

I want to thank everyone involved for their disinterested commitment to the goal of simplification and to the integrity of the income tax law. I particularly want to thank Senators Russell Long and Bob Dole and Congressmen Al Ullman, Barber Conable, Dan Rostenkowski, and John Duncan for their leadership and bipartisan cooperation in securing passage of this bill and for helping to ensure that the simplification process will continue.