TAS Act

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress has explicit authority to lay and collect taxes under Article I, Section 8, Clause 1, to constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court under Article I, Section 8, Clause 9, and to make laws necessary and proper for executing those powers under Article I, Section 8, Clause 18. Regulating Tax Court subpoenas, filing deadlines, special trial judges, contempt, and recusal is direct regulation of a federal tribunal Congress created.

Bill of Rights · passes

No First, Second, Third, Eighth, Ninth, or Tenth Amendment infringement. Subpoena expansion is subject to Tax Court judicial control and relevance limits, satisfying Fourth Amendment reasonableness for compelled production. Contempt authority up to $5,000 and 30 days is within historic petty-offense contempt power and below the Sixth Amendment jury-trial threshold for serious offenses, and recusal requirements strengthen Fifth Amendment due process and impartial tribunal guarantees. Equitable tolling expands access to be heard.

Individual liberty · passes

The bill does not restrict speech, belief, labor, property use, or bodily autonomy. It regulates procedure for contesting federal tax liability and, through equitable tolling and preserved district-court review, reduces government barriers to the individual challenging the government. Subpoena and contempt powers are confined to active litigation and judicial oversight, not general regulation of private life.

Decentralization · passes

Federal taxation and deficiency disputes cannot be resolved by individuals, localities, or states alone. Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 commits federal taxation to Congress, and a uniform federal forum is the minimum necessary level. The bill improves procedures inside that existing federal forum and does not consolidate new substantive power upward or preempt state courts; it expressly preserves a later district-court option.

Due process and takings · passes

Enhances procedural due process under the Fifth Amendment: equitable tolling gives fair opportunity to be heard, non-treatment of time-barred dismissal as a decision on the merits preserves subsequent judicial review, and subpoenas remain under neutral judicial supervision. No property is taken without just compensation. Thirty-day contempt power is bounded, requires judicial finding, and remains subject to appeal and constitutional contempt limits, so no presumption of innocence or notice-and-hearing violation.