[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 12, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H3423-H3424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              BREAKING THE BARRIERS OF AN UNFAIR TAX CODE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, last month most Americans filled out 
what is probably the most complicated and lengthy Federal income tax 
return in our history. Most everyone agrees that our Nation's tax 
system is totally flawed and in need of considerable reform. The Tax 
Code is so complex that more than 80 percent of individual taxpayers 
either use an accountant or a computer-based program to prepare their 
tax returns.
  The IRS estimates that Americans spend 6.6 billion hours and $194 
billion each year to comply with a Tax Code that has far too many 
complicated provisions which require special paperwork and detailed 
record keeping.

[[Page H3424]]

  Our Tax Code has become more and more a complex, burdensome, and 
expensive drag on the economy which we can ill afford in the middle of 
a severe economic downturn. It also harms America's businesses' ability 
to compete in the global marketplace by discouraging saving, by 
discouraging investing, by discouraging risk taking.
  American workers are now asked to work for 3 full months to pay for 
their annual Federal, State, and local taxes. It is totally 
unacceptable to require already-stressed families to give up at least a 
quarter of their income to prop up an expanding Federal bureaucracy 
while everyone else is making significant sacrifices.
  Instead of searching for a way to provide tax relief to American 
households, some administration officials have proposed new tax schemes 
that will further burden small businesses and consumers. One of the 
worst of these is the European-style value-added tax, VAT, which would 
levy a complicated tax at each stage of manufacturing, thereby adding a 
hidden cost to the finished product. This is damaging not only to the 
consumer, but also to many industries involved in manufacturing which 
have been hard hit during this recession.
  Instead of adding new taxes, Congress should be focused on reforming 
the current tax structure.
  I join many of my colleagues in the House who have asked the chairman 
of the House Ways and Means Committee, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Levin), to schedule hearings on Tax Code simplification. The last major 
reform of the Tax Code took place almost a quarter century ago in 1986, 
and while far from perfect, helped reduce the harm inflicted on the 
economy in many ways.
  The guiding principles of the 1986 reform were that it must not 
increase the total tax burden, while lowering individual and corporate 
income tax rates.
  Tax reform must not be used as a subterfuge for increasing taxes, as 
it needlessly complicates an already difficult issue with controversial 
questions about whether the combined tax burden should be higher or 
lower.
  Mr. Speaker, businesses and families need a stable and uncomplicated 
Tax Code. Businesses need to know how high their taxes will be in 
future years to make decisions now about hiring and expanding. Families 
need to know how high their taxes will be before they make decisions 
about large expenditures. A constantly changing Tax Code makes it 
difficult for businesses and families to make these decisions.
  The Tax Code has become sufficiently complex and harmful that a major 
rewrite is in order, and if Congress passes tax reform, it should 
consider making a commitment to keep the reformed Tax Code in place for 
as many years as possible.
  Congress must remember the sacrifices made by all of America's 
families. The American people need action that will break the barriers 
of an unfair and complicated tax system, and Congress must respond 
because the future health of the U.S. economy demands it.

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