Start From Scratch on Taxes? Why There’s a Bipartisan Push to Sunset the Tax Code

 
 

Few people in either party in Washington are happy with the current tax code, so what if we simply started over?

That is at the root of a proposal to sunset the current tax code on Dec. 31, 2019. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., has introduced the Tax Code Termination Act (HR 27), which would do exactly that.

“Even though tax reform has been discussed for many years, we have yet to see any major actions to simplify the tax code,” Goodlatte said in a press release.

“We must force Congress to tackle tax reform head on. The best way forward is to scrap the current tax code and start fresh. This legislation would allow us, as a nation, to collectively decide what the new tax system should look like. There are many competing alternatives, but having a set date to end the current tax code will force the issue and the debate to the top of the national agenda.”

Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, a conservative organization that supports the proposal, said the sunset date was chosen so the question of whether to scrap the system and start over could be part of the 2016 presidential campaign but the debate …read more