House tax-reform task force releases policy goals

The mission of the House’s tax-reform task force is to “create jobs, grow the economy, and raise wages by reducing rates, removing special interest carve-outs, and making our broken tax code simpler and fairer,” the group’s chairman said.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who is also chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, released the mission statement and broad policy goals on Wednesday as the group holds its first “idea forum.”

{mosads}The task force is one of several committee-led groups that will seek input from House members in an effort to develop an agenda that Republicans will present in the coming months, according to a news release.

Brady described principles for tax reform. One is to simplify the tax code and make it fairer.  Tax reform should lower the number of pages in the tax code and the length of tax returns.

Another is that tax reform should close “loopholes” and limit tax preferences. The amount of time that Americans spend on tax compliance and the amount of resources focused on tax planning and avoidance should be reduced.

Additionally, Brady said he does not want “the tax system to be used to bail out Washington’s spending problem.” The national debt should be lowered by limiting spending rather than by increasing any income group’s tax burdens.

Other principles include making sure that the tax code is competitive for both small and large businesses, ending disincentives for companies to move jobs overseas and making the tax code more conducive for economic growth, Brady said.