GFOA of the US & Canada

Tax Reform Update House and Senate tax writing committees are renewing their efforts to organize a comprehensive tax reform package this week as Congress returns to Washington from a two-week break. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold hearings on the tax portion of the White House’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal, and the committee’s 11 working groups will continue reviewing suggestions from stakeholders on tax reform priorities. The committee will also continue accepting written public comments and suggestions on tax reform through April 15, 2013, from individuals, businesses, and advocacy organizations and coalitions via the Ways and Means website. The GFOA will submit joint recommendations with the National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, and U.S. Conference of Mayors. Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee will also hear from Treasury Department Secretary Jacob Lew this week on the tax provisions in White House’s fiscal 2014 budget proposal. And like their counterparts on the Ways and Means Committee, Senate Finance Committee members will also continue efforts to develop a full-scale federal tax reform package. The committee hopes to hold another discussion next week on elements of tax reform, which will be followed by the release of a second Finance Committee options paper. These staff-generated documents will be released over the course of the committee’s deliberations on tax reform and are intended to provide lawmakers with a range of options to consider. The first of these short papers was released on March 21, 2013, and is available here. Demonstrating a bipartisan and bicameral commitment to reform, the leaders of the House and Senate tax authorizing committees penned a joint op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on April 8, 2013, laying out some basic principles for reform. The principles focus on creating system that is simpler for individuals and a more neutral code for businesses, lowering rates, closing tax loopholes, and maintaining the progressive natures of the current tax code.