Presidential Panel Hears About Tax System from Experts

WASHINGTON -- A presidential commission looking into how to make income taxes fairer and simpler is hearing pitches from experts about ways to revamp or replace the current tax system, The Associated Press reported.

The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform heard ideas as varied as basing taxes on spending rather than income, which could mean a national sales tax or a European-style value-added tax, to transforming the income tax through comprehensive change or minor tinkering.

"Not one person who we encountered as we traveled the country told us that our current tax system was good for America and that we should leave it alone," said the commission's chairman, former GOP Sen. Connie Mack of Florida.

At the two-day tax panel, 27 witnesses were scheduled to appear, Marketwatch reported. The panel, which concludes Thursday, must report back to the Treasury Department this summer with specific tax reform proposals. President Bush has ordered that the proposals simplify the tax code but remain revenue-neutral.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 5/12/05