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 financial intermediaries and financial products of replacing the Federal income tax. The hearing will take place on Wednesday, May 21, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
BACKGROUND:
Beginning in the 104th Congress, the Committee has held a series of hearings examining problems caused by the current Federal income tax system and proposals to replace the Federal income tax. The Committee has held hearings on how proposed replacement systems would affect specific segments of society and the economy, small businesses, State and local governments, tax-exempt entities, exporters and importers, domestic manufacturing, energy and natural resources, and individuals and families.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Archer stated: "Earlier this month, the Committee resumed its series of hearings on proposals for fundamental tax reform. One of the goals of reform would be to increase savings and investment. Businesses and entrepreneurs would not have easy access to an increased pool of capital without an efficient financial services industry. Financial products and activities undertaken by financial intermediaries, by their very nature, often require special rules under any tax system to avoid under- or over-taxation. In our current tax system, a hodge-podge of rules apply to banks, savings associations, insurance companies, finance companies, brokers, and other financial agents. How financial intermediaries and products should be treated, especially under a consumption tax, is a difficult issue, and I look forward to the input of the financial services industry.
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The focus of this hearing will be the impact on financial intermediaries and products 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 credit-invoice 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 SUBMISSIONS OF REQUESTS TO BE HEARD:
Requests to be heard at the hearing must be made by telephone to Traci Altman or Bradley Schreiber at (202) 225-1721 no later than the close of business, Tuesday, May 13, 1997. The telephone request should be followed by a formal written request 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. The staff of the Committee will notify by telephone those scheduled to appear as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Any questions concerning a scheduled appearance should be directed to the Committee on staff at (202) 225-1721.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, the Committee may not be able to accommodate all requests to be heard. Those persons and organizations not scheduled for an oral appearance are encouraged to submit written statements for the record of the hearing. All persons requesting to be heard, whether they are scheduled for oral testimony or not, will be notified as soon as possible after the filing deadline.
Witnesses scheduled to present oral testimony are required to summarize briefly their written statements in no more than five minutes. THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. The full written statement of each witness will be included in the printed record, in accordance with House Rules.
In order to assure the most productive use of the limited amount of time available to question witnesses, all witnesses scheduled to appear before the Committee are required to submit 300 copies of their prepared statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, for review by Members prior to the hearing. Testimony should arrive at the Committee office, room 1102 Longworth House Office Building, no later than Monday, May 19, 1997. Failure to do so may result in the witness being denied the opportunity to testify in person.
WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE:
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, Wednesday, June 4, 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 202-226-3411 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.