April 25,2001

Grassley, Baucus Comment on Tax Simplification


Today the Joint Committee on Taxation is releasing the executive summary of a muchanticipated,congressionally mandated study on tax simplification. Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairmanof the Committee on Finance, has scheduled a hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday to explore options forsimplification. Grassley and Sen. Max Baucus, ranking Democrat, made the following comment onthe study’s release.

“As any taxpayer knows, the tax code is excessively complex. Millions of Americans spendhours struggling over tax forms. They spend billions of dollars seeking professional help and buyingdo-it-yourself tax software. Taxpayers exhaust their patience and their resources simply trying tocomply with the law. We believe Congress must make the tax code more simple and more fair fortaxpayers at all income levels. The easy part is deciding to simplify taxes. The hard part is decidinghow to do it. We intend for our hearing, and this study, to help jump-start the debate on tax simplification.”