House Gets to Work on Tax Reform

NEW YORK -- The House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday held a hearing on tax reform that addressed everything from replacing the income tax code with a system that taxes consumer spending to definitions of fairness and the need to fix the alternative minimum tax (AMT), CNN/Money reported.

Bill Thomas, the California Republican who chairs the House committee, made it clear that the hearing was preliminary and meant to be educational.

"As the one committee in the House that is charged with understanding and evaluating the product from the president's panel," Thomas said, "it's useful to begin an analysis of the kinds of criteria that would useful in making choices based upon some of the panel's suggestions."

The hearing also highlighted how difficult it will be for Congress to enact radical reforms.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 6/8/05