March 16,2005

Grassley on Importance of Reviewing Expiring Tax Provisions, Cost to Taxpayers

M E M O R A N D U M

To: Reporters and Editors
Re: Expiring tax provisions
Da: Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, today convened a hearing to look at certain federal tax provisions expiring in 2005 and 2006. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation issued a report in conjunction with the hearing. That report is JCX-12-05, available at http://www.house.gov/jct/. Grassley made the following comment on the effort to consider whether to renew certain tax provisions.

“One of my duties is to conduct oversight of the tax code. Congress is good at passing taxlaws but not as good as looking at what works and what doesn’t. The Finance Committee shouldn’t be a rubber stamp for tax breaks that cost the taxpayers billions of dollars a year. That would be irresponsible. We need to make sure the provisions work as intended and that the IRS can administer them. If we find they don’t work, we should be open to any suggested recommendations or modifications to make them work.”