(Alexandria, VA) – As Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) unveiled their “Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010,” Pete Sepp, Vice President for Policy and Communications with the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU), offered the following statement supporting many of the plan’s elements and its overall focus:
Reforming America's tax system will be one of the most difficult legislative tasks in recent history, and Senators Wyden and Gregg are courageously tackling the job with a largely sound blueprint in hand.
Although we are concerned about several effects the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 could have on specific sectors of our economy, the overall approach is both sensible and principled: reduce the rates, simplify the base, and streamline the rules. NTU is especially supportive of the bill's provisions to repeal the personal and corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, abolish the Personal Exemption Phaseout and "Pease" limits, consolidate and expand retirement savings vehicles, and establish a single, low corporate tax rate.
While we continue to believe that the entire 2001 and 2003 tax reduction packages should be made a part of permanent law, the Wyden-Gregg legislation makes admirable progress in preventing for most taxpayers the higher burdens that will result when those packages expire next year. We commend the Senators for recognizing the importance of preserving as much tax relief as possible for everyone, including the many small business owners in the top bracket who've been targeted by other lawmakers for huge tax hikes.
Ultimately, Americans' civil liberties and economic prosperity would be best off by scrapping the current Tax Code completely and replacing it with either a national retail sales tax or a flat-rate income tax. Nonetheless, Senators Wyden and Gregg have given the process of tax reform more than just a start – they've provided an honest, thoughtful plan which, unlike many others, deserves to be part of the debate over how the federal tax system can be restructured to benefit our nation's citizens and its economy.
NTU is a nonpartisan, nonprofit citizen organization founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. The group and its members actively participated in developing the Tax Reform Act of 1986 as well as the bipartisan "Cleanse the Code" coalition (which Senator Wyden co-chaired) 20 years later. Note: additional analyses and commentaries on tax reform are available at www.ntu.org.
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