NYSSCPA Goes to Washington
Members Spread the Word on SET Proposal and Other Issues

By Simon Eskow

New York—Members of the New York State Society of CPAs swept through Capitol Hill last month to share the Society’s proposal for reforming income tax with New York’s legislative delegation.

A dozen society members met with Representatives and Senate legislative staff for a whirlwind daylong tour on May 24 to discuss the Society’s Simple Exact Tax (SET) proposal and Social Security reform.

“Overall our visits went very well,” NYSSCPA President Stephen Langowski said. “We had the right ideas at the right time and communicated them to the right people. We are well positioned to play a role in the ongoing dialogue regarding both Social Security and tax reform.”

Society members focused on the NYSSCPA’s SET proposal, a tax-reform package developed in response to President George W. Bush’s call for an overhaul of the tax system. The proposal seeks to reduce complexity and increase transparency in the existing income tax code. The Society submitted its proposal to a presidential task force on tax simplification that is expected to release a report later in the summer.

“My overall reaction is positive,” NYSSCPA Political Action Committee Member Michael Borsuk said. “I thought it was important that they knew it was there and to expect documentation on the proposal. We primarily spoke about SET and Social Security reform and financial literacy. Some legislators seemed to express more interest in the literacy than in the tax proposal, but it’s good that the SET is on the table.”

Borsuk referred to a joint effort between state societies and the American Institute of CPAs to educate the public on financial matters in a program known as 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy. The visits coincided with the AICPA General Council’s spring meeting.

Borsuk, in all, visited with eight Representatives and legislative staff members—five from Long Island and three from upstate. Other members visited with representatives from Sen. Charles Schumer’s and Sen. Hillary Clinton’s offices.

Earlier this year, the NYSSCPA’s Committee on Practical Reform for the Tax System debuted SET, a framework for tax simplification. The proposal would allow Congress to maintain the current tax code, but reduce all credits and deductions to a set of clearly defined exclusions. All income would be counted as income, and a single tax rate would be applied to that income, minus the exclusions. The tax would eliminate the need for the Alternative Minimum Tax, phaseouts, credits, multiple filing status and other elements that make the current system opaque. The committee, led by David A. Lifson, formally introduced the SET tax in April.

Other Society members have also held several press conferences on Social Security reform, drawing from a white paper recently issued by the AICPA.

In addition to representatives from the Senators’ offices, members met with Reps. Brian Higgins, Peter King, Timothy Bishop, Michael McNulty, Vito Fosella, Steve Israel, Caroline McCarthy and Sherwood Boehlert. They also met with staff members from the offices of Reps. Jim Walsh, Charles Rangel, Gary Ackerman and Thomas Reynolds.