The last time Congress passed comprehensive tax reform was more than 30 years ago, in 1986.
Since that time, the tax code has gotten less fair, more complex, and riddled with politically driven special interest preferences. One of the few points of real agreement in Washington is that the tax code is broken and needs to be fixed.
But the ‘Tax Cuts and Jobs Act‘ does not fix or reform the tax code.
It increases the deficit, is riddled with gimmicks to mask the true cost, and perpetuates the toxic practice of pretending that certain tax cuts are temporary.
There is only one fix to this bill that makes sense for taxpayers: Throw it out and start from scratch through regular order.
— Ryan Alexander, president of TCS
At Taxpayers for Common Sense, we believe that tax reform must be bipartisan and must be paid for.
The current bill fails on the following important fronts:
- Adds $1.5 Trillion to the deficit
- Is being pushed through without time for public review or input from Senators who represent a majority of the country.
- This is a debt financed tax cut – no serious effort to pay for it with credible offsets.
- Full of gimmicks and timing tricks to make it look like it increases the deficit less than it does.
- Invites the rent seeking practice of tax extenders by failing to make the difficult trade offs that would allow the changes to be permanent.
Need to know the specifics on the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act? Here’s a timeline of our analyses on the subject.
September 23, 2016
Learning Lessons from Tax Reform
October 7, 2016
October 21, 2016
February 23, 2017
How Republicans Should Approach Revenue Neutrality for Real Tax Reform
April 12, 2017
April 14, 2017
Congress Must Reform the Broken Tax Code
May 17, 2017
August 3, 2017
Take the Hard Route on Tax Reform
September 27, 2017
Statement Regarding the ‘Unified Framework For Fixing Our Broken Tax Code’
September 29, 2017
Tax Cuts Are Easy, Tax Reform Is Hard
October 11, 2017
Congress Needs to Wait for CBO’s Tax Score to Move on Reform
October 27, 2017
November 2, 2017
Statement and Analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
November 3, 2017
November 9, 2017
November 17, 2017
November 28, 2017
November 29, 2017
Throw Out the Senate’s Tax Bill
November 30, 2017
Tax Package Would Reduce Federal Tax Revenue by $1.5 Trillion
Contact Your Member of Congress and Tell Them You Do Not Support the Tax Bill
December 1, 2017
December 2, 2017
Statement On Senate Tax Package
December 4, 2017
Tax Extenders are Ruining the GOP Tax Plan
December 7, 2017
Understanding the National Debt and the Debt Ceiling
December 8, 2017
Tax Extenders, The Opposite of Tax Reform
Congress Must Make Hard Economic Choices on Tax Bill, Debt Ceiling and More
December 12, 2017
A One-Page “Analysis” of the Tax Bill?
December 14, 2017
Oppose the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – We Need Reform, Not More Debt
The Conference Committee Needs To Slow Down
December 15, 2017
The Tax Bill, Now With More Gimmicks
December 18, 2017
Energy Provisions in the Tax Bill (Updated)
December 19, 2017
Congress’ Tax Bill Gives Special Interests Last-Minute Gifts
Vote No on Tax Bill: We Can’t Afford $1 Trillion in Debt
Billions in Energy Tax Subsidies Left on the Books
December 20, 2017
The Disaster Supplemental – A Classic Case Of “Haste Makes Waste”
TCS Statement On Passage Of The Tax Bill
December 21, 2017
Disaster Supplemental Must Do Better by Taxpayers
The Tax Extender Act of 2017 – Driving Us To Drink
December 28, 2017
The New Tax Landscape’s Unsurprising “Surprises”
August 10, 2018
November 20, 2018
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