Camp: No evidence of White House involvement in IRS woes

{mosads}”What we do know is that at the highest levels of Treasury and at the highest levels of the IRS, they were aware of this. Certainly, the chief counsel’s office was aware of this,” he added.

Camp also threw cold water on the president’s push to overhaul the corporate tax code, saying it needed to be tackled alongside the individual code. He was optimistic at least that his committee could advance a comprehensive tax reform measure before the end of the year.

A fundamental issue bedeviling the tax reform effort is whether the final product should raise revenue for the government or be revenue-neutral. Several Democrats have said a tax code overhaul should boost funds to the government, while Republicans have insisted the effort will be dead before it starts if there is not an agreement on revenue neutrality.

Camp said a revenue-neutral bill was the right path, otherwise “it comes apart before it starts.”

“People say, ‘Why should I pay for those tax increases?’ ” he said. “Revenue-neutral is important about keeping everyone together and moving forward.”

He also suggested that he would fight to protect the mortgage interest deduction and the deduction for charitable contributions in any overhaul effort.

“I wouldn’t consider those loopholes,” he said. “Those are important provisions.”

Camp, who will reach his term limit as Ways and Means chairman at the end of 2014, will reach a decision on whether to run for the Senate by January, saying people have been calling for him to run for the seat opening up due to Sen. Carl Levin’s (D-Mich.) retirement.

“A lot of people have urged me to take a look at it, and I think I owe them the respect of taking a serious consideration,” he said. “I always knew I was going to be on the ballot. We run every two years in the House. I just don’t know where I’m going to be on the ballot at this point.”