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1 Scott A. Hodge, Tax Reform: The Key to a Growing Economy and Higher Living Standards for All Americans: Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget 1 (2011)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/taxfaaqf0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Tax Reform: The Key to a Growing Economy and Higher Living Standards for All Americans By Scott A. Hodge President, Tax Foundation Hearing Before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget September 14, 2011 I am Scott Hodge, president of the Tax Foundation. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about how comprehensive tax reform can boost America's long-term economic growth and improve our global competitiveness. Founded in 1937, the Tax Foundation is the nation's oldest non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting economically sound tax policy at all levels of government. We are guided by the immutable principles of economically sound tax policy which say that: Taxes should be neutral to economic decision making, they should be simple, transparent, stable, and they should promote economic growth. In other words, the ideal tax system should do only one thing - raise a sufficient amount of revenues to fund government activities with the least amount of harm to the economy. By all accounts, the U.S. tax system is far from that ideal. Introduction The U.S. tax system is in desperate need of simplification and reform. Over the past two decades, lawmakers have increasingly asked the tax code to direct all manner of social and economic objectives, such as encouraging people to buy hybrid vehicles, turn corn into gasoline, save more for retirement, purchase health insurance, buy a home, replace the home's windows, adopt children, put them in daycare, take care of Grandma, buy bonds, spend more on research, purchase school supplies, go to college, invest in historic buildings, and the list goes on. The relentless growth of credits and deductions over the past 20 years has not only knocked half of all American households off the tax rolls, it has made the IRS a super-agency, engaged in policies as unrelated as delivering welfare benefits to subsidizing the manufacture of energy efficient refrigerators. I would argue that 1

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