WASHINGTON -- Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are soliciting ideas from stakeholders and members of the public on how best to overhaul the nation's "broken" tax code to make it simpler, fairer and more efficient.
Committee chair Orrin Hatch, R-Utah and top Democrat Ron Wyden, D-Ore., made their pitch on Wednesday, saying they want to provide additional information and data to the committee's five bipartisan tax reform working groups.
The working groups, which are currently examining the existing tax law as well as possible policy trade-offs and reform options, are to submit reports with recommendations to the committee leaders by the end of May.
Recommendations and comments submitted to the committee by stakeholders and the public will be accepted through April 15 and will be made public at a later date, according to a release issued by the committee.
"By opening up our bipartisan working groups to public input, we hope to gain a greater understanding of how tax policy affects individuals, businesses, and civic groups across our nation," Hatch and Wyden said. "In doing so, we will also equip our working groups with valuable input, and we hope these suggestions will help guide the groups through the arduous task of putting forth substantive ideas to reform the tax code in each of their areas."
The five working groups are: Individual Income Tax, which is co-chaired by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and can be reached at individual@finance.senate.gov; Business Income Tax, which is headed by Sens. John Thune, R-SD, and Ben Cardin, D-Md., and can be reached at Business@finance.senate.gov; Savings & Investment, led by Sens. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, at Savings@finance.senate.gov; International Tax, co-chaired by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Chuck Schumer, D-NY at International@finance.senate.gov; and Community Development & Infrastructure, chaired by Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. at CommunityDevelopment@finance.senate.gov.
All recommendations and comments must be submitted as a pdf attachment, which is saved using the name of the organization or individual submitting the recommendations, the committee said in its release.
Those submitting recommendations should list the name of the tax working group they want to contact. They would also include a contact name, the organization (if the submission is being made on behalf of a group), phone number, and email address in the body of the email.
If technical issues arise, parties can contact the committee at (202) 224-4515, according to the release.
The committee said it reserves the right, if these directions are not followed, to exclude the submissions from consideration.
