[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6289]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SIMPLIFY THE TAX CODE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ALTMIRE. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to speak on behalf of 
America's small business owners and small business owners in western 
Pennsylvania who have recently finished filing their taxes with the 
Federal Government and have struggled over the past year to provide 
goods, services, and jobs during this recession.
  As we all know, April is tax month for American citizens. And as a 
member of the Small Business Committee, I had the opportunity to hear 
testimony by Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman on 
April 14. Commissioner Shulman walked through the service and 
disclosures provided by the IRS during tax preparation season. He 
described outreach being performed on many levels to aid small 
businesses in complying with the convoluted tax system they faced as 
American job creators.
  While the IRS has a responsibility to use its funding to conduct 
outreach and facilitate voluntary compliance with tax laws, it's 
Congress that has the responsibility to hear the calls of America's 
small businesses for more streamlined and simplified tax regulations.
  The outreach and disclosure by the IRS is certainly helpful. However, 
I would prefer to see it become less necessary. If America's small 
business owners were not spending so much valuable time deciphering 
codes and regulations, they could be growing their businesses to earn 
profits, create jobs, and lead America back to prosperity just as they 
have always done through past recessions. Less time spent complying 
with the Tax Code would increase tax revenue by allowing small 
businesses to focus more time on running their businesses, meanwhile 
saving the IRS time and money in outreach and instruction on their 
intricate rules and requirements for every small business in America.
  I hope that by April of next year Congress can find the time to work 
on behalf of America's small businesses and simplify the Tax Code.

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