(1) Four Assistant General Counsel each of whom shall receive a salary at the rate of $8,000 per annum.

(2) One Assistant to the Commissioner who shall receive a salary at the rate of $8,000 per annum. The office of Assistant to the Commissioner provided by existing law is abolished to take effect at such time as the Assistant to the Commissioner first appointed under this section takes office.

(3) One Special Deputy Commissioner who shall receive a salary at the rate of $7,500 per annum.

JOINT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ON INTERNAL-REVENUE TAXATION

(a) There is hereby established a

SEC. 1203. [Revenue Act of 1926.] joint congressional committee to be known as the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation (hereinafter in this section referred to as the "Joint Committee "), and to be composed of ten members as follows:

(1) Five members who are members of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, three from the majority and two from the minority party, to be chosen by such Committee; and

(2) Five members who are members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, three from the majority and two from the minority party, to be chosen by such Committee.

(b) No person shall continue to serve as a member of the Joint Committee after he has ceased to be a member of the Committee by which he was chosen, except that the members chosen by the Committee on Ways and Means who have been re-elected to the House of Representatives may continue to serve as members of the Joint Committee notwithstanding the expiration of the Congress. A vacancy in the Joint Committee shall not affect the power of the remaining members to execute the functions of the Joint Committee, and shall be filled in the same manner as the original selection, except that (1) in case of a vacancy during an adjournment or recess of Congress for a period of more than two weeks, the members of the Joint Committee who are members of the Committee entitled to fill such vacancy may designate a member of such Committee to serve until his successor is chosen by such Committee, and (2) in the case of a vacancy after the expiration of a Congress which would be filled by the Committee on Ways and Means, the members of such Committee who are continuing to serve as members of the Joint Committee may designate a person who, immediately prior to such expiration, was a member of such Committee and who is re-elected to the House of Representatives, to serve until his successor is chosen by such Committee.

(c) It shall be the duty of the Joint Committee

(1) To investigate the operation and effects of the Federal system of internal-revenue taxes;

(2) To investigate the administration of such taxes by the Bureau of Internal Revenue or any executive department, establishment, or agency, charged with their administration;

(3) To make such other investigations in respect of such system of taxes as the Joint Committee may deem necessary;

(4) To investigate measures and methods for the simplification of such taxes, particularly the income tax;

(5) To publish, from time to time, for public examination and analysis, proposed measures and methods for the simplification of such taxes, and to make to the Senate and the House of Representatives, not later than December 31, 1927, a definite report thereon, together with such recommendations as it may deem advisable; and

(6) To report, from time to time, to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Ways and Means and, in its discretion, to the Senate or the House of Representatives, or both, the results of its investigations, together with such recommendations as it may deem advisable.

(d) The Joint Committee shall have the same right to obtain data and to inspect returns as the Committee on Ways and Means or the Committee on Finance, and to submit any relevant or useful information thus obtained to the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Committee on Ways and Means, or the Committee on Finance. The Committee on Ways and Means or the Committee on Finance may submit such information to the House or to the Senate, or to both the House and the Senate, as the case may be.

(e) The Joint Committee shall meet and organize as soon as practicable after at least a majority of the members have been chosen, and shall elect a chairman and vice chairman from among its members and shall have power to appoint and fix the compensation of a clerk and such experts and clerical, stenographic, and other assistants, as it deems advisable.

(f) The Joint Committee, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to hold hearings and to sit and act at such places and times, to require by subpoena or otherwise the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, to administer such oaths, to take such testimony, to have such printing and binding done, and to make such expenditures, as it deems advisable, The cost of stenographic services in reporting such hearings shall not be in excess of 25 cents per hundred words. Subpoenas for witnesses shall be issued under the signature of the chairman or vice chairman.

(g) The members shall serve without compensation in addition to that received for their services as Members of Congress; but they shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of the duties vested in the Joint Committee, other than expenses in connection with meetings of the Joint Committee held in the District of Columbia during such times as the Congress is in session.

(h). The expenses of the Joint Committee shall be paid one-half from the contingent fund of the Senate and one-half from the contingent fund of the House of Representatives, upon vouchers signed by the chairman or vice chairman.

REVENUE ACT OF 1924

MEMBERSHIP OF BOARD

SEC. 900. [Revenue Act of 1924, as amended by section 1000, Revenue Act of 1926.] The Board of Tax Appeals (hereinafter referred to as

the "Board") is hereby continued as an independent agency in the Executive Branch of the Government. The Board shall be composed of 16 members; except that such limitation shall not be held applicable to any member holding office under an appointment made before the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1926, in accordance with the law in force prior to the enactment of such Act.

SEC. 901. [Revenue Act of 1924, as amended by section 1000, Revenue Act of 1926.] (a) Members of the Board shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, solely on the grounds of fitness to perform the duties of the office. Members of the Board may be removed by the President, after notice and opportunity for public hearing, for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause. Each member shall receive зalary at the rate of $10,000 per annum.

(b) The terms of office of all members who are to compose the Board prior to June 2, 1926, shall expire at the close of business on June 1, 1926. The terms of office of the sixteen members first taking office after such date shall expire, as designated by the President at the time of nomination, four at the end of the sixth year, four at the end of the eighth year, four at the end of the tenth year, and four at the end of the twelfth year, after June 2, 1926. The terms of office of all successors shall expire twelve years after the expiration of the terms for which their predecessors were appointed; but any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of his predecessor.

SEO. 902. [Revenue Act of 1924, as amended by section 1000, Revenue Act of 1926.] A member of the Board removed from office in accordance with subdivision (a) of section 901 shall not be permitted at any time to practice before the Board.

ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURE

SEC. 903. [Revenue Act of 1924, as amended by section 1000, Revenue Act of 1926.] The Board shall at least biennially designate a member to act as chairman. The Board shall have a seal which shall be judicially noticed.

SEC. 904. [Revenue Act of 1924, as amended by section 1000, Revenue Act of 1926.] The Board and its divisions shall have such jurisdiction as is conferred on them by Title II and Title III of the Revenue Act of 1926 or by subsequent laws. The Board is authorized to impose a fee in an amount not in excess of $10 to be fixed by the Board for the filing of any petition for the redetermination of a deficiency after the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1926 and for the hearing of any proceeding pending at the time of such enactment.

SEC. 905. [Revenue Act of 1924, as amended by section 1000, Revenue Act of 1926.] A majority of the members of the Board or of any division thereof shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of the Board or of the division, respectively. A vacancy in the Board or in any division thereof shall not impair the powers nor affect the duties of the Board or division nor of the remaining members of the Board or division, respectively.

SEC. 906. [Revenue Act of 1924, as amended by section 1000, Revenue Act of 1926, and further amended by section 601, Revenue Act of 1928.] (a) The chairman may from time to time divide the Board into divisions of one or more members, assign the members of the Board thereto, and in case of a division of more than one member, designate the chief thereof. If a division, as a result of a vacancy or the absence or inability of a member assigned thereto to serve thereon, is composed of less than the number of members designated for the division, the chairman may assign other members to the division or direct the division to proceed with the transaction of business without awaiting any additional assignment of members thereto. A division shall hear, and make a determination upon, any proceeding instituted before the Board and any motion in connection therewith, assigned to such division by the chairman, and shall make a report of any such determination which constitutes its final disposition of the proceeding.

(b) The report of the division shall become the report of the Board within 30 days after such report by the division, unless within such period the chairman has directed that such report shall be reviewed by the Board. Any preliminary action by a division which does not form the basis for the entry of the final decision shall not be subject to review by the Board except in accordance with such rules as the Board may prescribe. The report of a division shall not be a part of the record in any case in which the chairman directs that such report shall be reviewed by the Board.

(c) If a petition for a redetermination of a deficiency has been filed by the taxpayer, a decision of the Board dismissing the proceeding shall be considered as its decision that the deficiency is the amount determined by the Commissioner. An order specifying such amount shall be entered in the records of the Board unless the Board can not determine such amount from the record in the proceeding, or unless the dismissal is for lack of jurisdiction.

(d) A decision of the Board (except a decision dismissing a proceeding for lack of jurisdiction) shall be held to be rendered upon the date that an order specifying the amount of the deficiency is entered in the records of the Board. If the Board dismisses a proceeding for reasons other than lack of jurisdiction and is unable from the record to determine the amount of the deficiency determined by the Commissioner, or if the Board dismisses a proceeding for lack of jurisdiction, an order to that effect shall be entered in the records of the Board, and the decision of the Board shall be held to be rendered upon the date of such entry.

(e) If the assessment or collection of any tax is barred by any statute of limitations, the decision of the Board to that effect shall be considered as its decision that there is no deficiency in respect of such tax.

(f) The findings of the Board made in connection with any decision prior to the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1926 shall, notwithstanding the enactment of such Act, continue to be prima facie evidence of facts therein stated.

SEC. 907. [Revenue Act of 1924, as amended by section 1000, Revenue Act of 1926, and further amended by section 601, Revenue Act of 1928.] (a) Notice and opportunity to be heard upon any proceeding

instituted before the Board shall be given to the taxpayer and the Commissioner, and a report upon the proceeding and a decision thereon shall be made as quickly as practicable. The decision shall be made by a member in accordance with the report of the Board, and such decision so made shall, when entered, be the decision of the Board. If an opportunity to be heard upon the proceeding is given before a division of the Board, neither the taxpayer nor the Commissioner shall be entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard before the Board upon review, except upon a specific order of the chairman. Hearings before the Board and its divisions shall be open to the public, and the testimony, and. if the Board so requires. the argument shall be stenographically reported. The Board is authorized to contract (by renewal of contract or otherwise) for the reporting of such hearings, and in such contract to fix the terms and conditions under which transcripts will be supplied by the contractor to the Board and to other persons and agencies. The proceedings of the Board and its divisions shall be conducted in accordance with such rules of practice and procedure (other than rules of evidence) as the Board may prescribe and in accordance with the rules of evidence applicable in courts of equity of the District of Columbia. In any proceeding involving the issue whether the petitioner has been guilty of fraud with intent to evade tax, where no hearing has been held before the enactment of the Revenue Act of 1928, the burden of proof in respect of such issue shall be upon the Commissioner. The mailing by registered mail of any pleading, decision, order, notice, or process in respect of proceedings before the Board shall be held sufficient service of such pleading, decision, order, notice, or process.

(b) It shall be the duty of the Board and of each division to include in its report upon any proceeding its findings of fact or opinion or memorandum opinion. The Board shall report in writing all its findings of fact, opinions and memorandum opinions.

(c) All reports of the Board and all evidence received by the Board and its divisions, including a transcript of the stenographic report of the hearings, shall be public records open to the inspection of the public; except that after the decision of the Board in any proceeding has become final the Board may, upon motion of the taxpayer or the Commissioner, permit the withdrawal by the party entitled thereto of originals of books, documents, and records, and of models, diagrams, and other exhibits, introduced in evidence before the Board or any division; or the Board may, on its own motion, make such other disposition thereof as it deems advisable.

(d) The Board shall provide for the publication of its reports at the Government Printing Office in such form and manner as may be best adapted for public information and use, and such authorized publication shall be competent evidence of the reports of the Board therein contained in all courts of the United States and of the several States without any further proof or authentication thereof. Such reports shall be subject to sale in the same manner and upon the same terms as other public documents.

(e) The principal office of the Board shall be in the District of Columbia, but the Board or any of its divisions may sit at any place within the United States. The times and places of the meetings of the