Liberal group makes own case on tax reform

A liberal group made the case Monday that voters do want tax reform – just not the kind of overhaul that corporate-backed organizations are pushing.

{mosads}The Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund, armed with recent polling, says that voters are more likely to want corporations to “pay their fair share,” by getting rid of incentives for companies to take profits offshore.

The group said its recommendations to policymakers was in part prompted by a recent memo from the Reforming America’s Taxes Equitably Coalition, or RATE – a corporate coalition that urged lawmakers to press ahead with efforts this year to reduce rates and scrap tax breaks.

In their memo, Americans for Tax Fairness also say that voters want the revenue gained from cleaning tax incentives out of the code should go toward deficit reduction or other investments – not to reduce rates.

The group also agrees that the tax code should be made simpler, but also warns potential candidates from being seen as too cozy with corporations in the wake of the fiscal crisis.

“In these conditions, running a campaign on the proposition that cutting taxes on large corporations will help the middle class is a risky and perhaps a career-ending course of action,” the group wrote.