Incoming Senate Tax Chairman Issues Backgrounder on Tax Reform
The incoming chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), released a study by Republican committee staff that he believes explains the many reasons why tax reform must happen swiftly, including promoting efficiency and economic growth, achieving a more equitable tax code, simplification, and bringing the outdated tax code into the 21st century. Comprehensive Tax Reform for 2015 and Beyond, which will likely be used as a guide by federal and state legislators alike, provides useful background on the rationale, and potential previously proposed reforms, for such nonprofit issues as the charitable deduction (pages 76, 96-98) and unrelated business income taxes (page 145). In releasing the report, Sen. Hatch issued an open invitation, stating, “I am willing to work with anyone – Republican or Democrat – to fix our country’s tax code and I hope this report will be viewed as an invitation to work together on these critical issues.”