Joint Committee Urged to Consider Overhaul of Tax Code

The United States Chamber of Commerce, a business federation representing companies, business associations, state and local chambers in the United States, and American Chambers of Commerce overseas, recently sent a letter to the Congressional “Supercommittee” urging them to seriously consider major tax reforms.

The United States Chamber of Commerce currently stands as the world’s largest business federation. It represents the interest of over three million businesses and organizations. In this letter, the Chamber of Commerce uses the full weight of American business to support their conviction that enhancing the economy and stimulating job growth will not alone be sufficient to conquer the US deficit problem.

Tax Reform Necessary for Deficit Reduction?

The Chamber of Commerce argues in their letter that while the plan outlined in the Budget Control Act of 2011 to reduce the aggregate deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade is a step in the right direction, it is not enough to completely conquer the US deficit problem.

The letter goes on to state that what is necessary to assist the current plan in battling the deficit is a complete reform of entitlement programs and a total overhaul of the existing tax code. The Chamber urges the Joint Select Committee to restructure the tax code to “improve transparency and simplicity to drive economic growth and job creation.”

Through increased simplicity the Chamber of Commerce argued that the Tax Code could cease encouraging erroneous tax returns and tax debt. This plan, they suggested, would thus remove the Tax Code as a roadblock to savings and investment in the US economy.

Specifically, their letter suggested a need for lower overall marginal tax rates to encourage savings and investment, as well as “allowing the marketplace, and not the tax system, to allocate resources.” Lastly, they asked for “realistic transition rules” in order to allow sufficient time for implementation of the new tax system.