Statement by Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the tax reform package released by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI)

Washington, DC – Taxpayers for Common Sense applauds Chairman Camp for his political courage and leadership in releasing a comprehensive tax reform plan. Even though most observers believe it will not receive a vote this year, this draft is a marker that can jumpstart the debate instead of continuing abstract discussions about individual tax breaks or the preferred top rate. It has been more than a quarter-century since the last overhaul of the tax code, and in that time it has become littered with increased complexity, parochial tax treatments, and revenue giveaways. Many of the proposals set forth in the discussion drafts begin to remove unnecessary favoritism for certain corporate taxpayers, reduce the number of distortions in the tax code overall, and create more certainty with regard to international taxation. Like most everyone, we won’t support every policy prescription in the draft, but we support moving forward with the debate.

Finally, whatever Congress does in tax reform, there must be more regular review of the individual and corporate tax codes to ensure that they are providing a return on the taxpayer’s forgone revenue investment.

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