“This bill takes action on behalf of America’s taxpayers with provisions that will strengthen protections and restore accountability and fairness to the tax code,” stated Rep. Hoyer. “While further action is required, the 110th Congress is moving forward in the right direction, after years of ill-conceived policy-making that made the tax code more complex, more onerous and less fair for the vast majority of Americans.”
Currently, the federal tax code contains more than seven hundred provisions affecting individuals and more than fifteen hundred affecting businesses – a total of more than 1.4 million words. Between 2001 and 2006, Republican-led Congresses added more than 10,000 pages to the Internal Revenue Code and regulations. The Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act includes measures to make the tax code easier to use and understand, including strengthening IRS outreach and assistance efforts to help ensure taxpayers know they are entitled to tax refunds or to payments under the Earned Income Tax Credit.
The legislation also will stop taxpayer harassment by ending the private collection of federal taxes. Today’s Washington Post reports that this practice costs the IRS $37 million more than it generates. The legislation also strengthens taxpayer protections from identity theft and tax fraud, simplifies cell phone tax reporting and expands tax help for low-income taxpayers. In addition, it takes steps to close egregious corporate loopholes and stop federal contractors from using foreign subsidiaries to evade Social Security and other employment taxes, closing a loophole costs American taxpayers almost $100 million a year.
“For far too long, the tax code has given greater advantages to corporations and left middle class families to fend for themselves,” added Rep. Hoyer. “I am proud to back legislation that will require companies to pay their fair share and help ensure taxpayers who play by the rules get the assistance they need and deserve.”
In addition to the tax bill passed today, the 110th Congress is fighting to make the tax code more fair and pro-family. The House has passed a budget that makes middle-income tax relief a priority-calling for extending middle-income tax cuts, including the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, and the 10 percent tax bracket.
And because the best taxpayer protection is fiscal discipline, the Democratic-led House has adopted “pay-as-you-go” rules – which Republicans allowed to expire in 2002. These rules were the key to the budget surpluses of the late 1990s and have won praise from every budget watchdog group. Today, one of the fastest growing parts of the federal budget is interest on the growing debt that has amassed under the Bush Administration’s misguided fiscal policies.
“The New Direction Congress recognizes that there are inconsistencies, loopholes and measures of unnecessary complexity in the federal tax system,” stated Rep. Hoyer. “House Democrats have been focused for years on making the tax code simpler and more equitable – and doing so in a fiscally responsible way. We continue to believe this is a priority, but greater action also demands presidential leadership, which to this point, has been largely absent.”
