Congressman Bill Archer (R-TX), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Committee will hold a hearing on the impact on individuals and families on replacing the Federal Income Tax. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, April 15, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
In the 104th Congress, the Committee held five days of hearings on problems caused by the current Federal income tax system and proposals to replace the Federal income tax. The Committee then began to examine how the proposed replacement systems would affect specific segments of society and the economy, holding hearings on the impact of replacing the income tax on small businesses, State and local governments, tax-exempt entities, international competitiveness, domestic manufacturing, energy and natural resources.
In announcing the next hearing, Chairman Archer stated: Two years ago, this Committee began a careful examination of how we could replace--in its entirety--our current income tax system. Now the Committee picks up on where it left off last year. Following this hearing, the Committee will continue to examine the impact of proposed alternatives, including the effects on employee benefits and retirement and personal savings incentives; home ownership and real estate generally; agriculture; retail sales; financial services; service industries; and health care." Dates for hearings on these topics will be announced in future advisories.
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The focus of this hearing will be on the impact on individuals and families of replacing the Federal income tax with one or more of the proposed alternative tax systems. The basic alternatives are an income tax (with one or more rates); a flat tax (such as the one introduced by House Majority Leader Dick Armey); a national sales tax (such as the one introduced by Reps. Schaefer and Tauzin); a value added tax (both invoice-credit and subtraction methods); and an income tax system with an unlimited savings deduction (such as the USA tax system introduced by Senator Domenici and former Senator Nunn). The witnesses should assume that any new tax system would replace, on a deficit-neutral basis, the individual income tax, the corporate income tax, and estate and gift taxes.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) copies of their statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, with their address and date of hearing noted, by the close of business, Tuesday, April 29, 1997, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Committee office, room 1102 Longworth House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-225-1904 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.