WASHINGTON – A task force on tax reform led by the House Ways & Means Committee chairman released a mission statement Wednesday that listed a series of principles, including limiting the deductions, exclusions and credits “that riddle the tax code today.”
One of the exclusions in the tax code is tax-exempt bond interest and various tax reform plans have proposed to limit or eliminate this and other exclusions and deductions in the tax code an effort to lower tax rates and broaden the tax base.
The mission statement contained a list of policy goals that it said would make “our broken tax code simpler and fairer.”
The goal is to “create jobs, grow the economy, and raise wages by reducing rates, said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who chairs both the House Ways & Means Committee and the Task Force on Tax Reform.
This would be accomplished through the closure of existing loopholes and limiting deductions, exclusions and credits as well as providing a competitive tax rate for job-creating businesses.
The task force said it hopes the reforms would create a stable tax code, a larger economy, and business decisions guided by economic potential rather than by tax considerations.
In order to achieve what he called a “simpler, fairer and flatter” tax code, Brady said the initiative would lower tax rates for families and businesses as well as eliminate special-interest carve-outs.
House Republicans announced plans to improve upon the tax code at their annual issues conference in January before announcing the formation of a committee-led task force last month. The group will hold idea forums to further develop a steady tax reform plan.
