WASHINGTON, D.C. – In advance of the first idea forum today, Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, the chairman of the Task Force on Tax Reform, released a mission statement and broad policy goals. This marks the next step in the development of a bold, pro-growth agenda that Republicans will present to the country in the coming months.

Republican leaders launched the development of this agenda in January, announcing that it will address five issue areas: national security; jobs and the economy; health care; poverty, opportunity, and upward mobility; and restoring constitutional authority. Taking a bottom-up approach, committee-led task forces will develop this agenda, holding idea forums to take input and ideas from all members.

For additional updates, visit Speaker.gov/ConfidentAmerica.

Mission Statement: Create jobs, grow the economy, and raise wages by reducing rates, removing special interest carve-outs, and making our broken tax code simpler and fairer. 

Principles:

1.    Make the tax code simpler, fairer, and flatter.

• Reduce the number of pages in the tax code and reduce the length of tax returns and IRS instructions.
• Ensure similar tax bills for taxpayers with similar incomes.

2.    Close loopholes, eliminate special-interest carve-outs, and limit the deductions, exclusions and credits that riddle the tax code today.

• Reduce the number of hours Americans spend on tax filing and compliance.
• Reduce the resources that are devoted to tax planning and tax avoidance.

3.    Ensure businesses, both large and small, have a competitive tax system.

• Provide a fair and competitive tax rate for job-creating businesses.
• Facilitate the growth of employers, regardless of size or form.

4.    End the tax code’s encouragement of the shift of jobs overseas.

• Help American companies compete and win in the global economy.
• Reduce the tax penalty for bringing overseas earnings home to invest in America.

5.     Remodel the tax code so it is built for economic growth.

• Increase private sector employment, wages, and personal consumption.
• Increase investment in business capital and gross domestic product.

6.    Do not allow the tax system to be used to bail out Washington’s spending problem.

• Do not increase the tax burden on any income group.
• Rely on controlling Washington spending, rather than higher tax burdens, to reduce the national debt.

Policy Reforms:

1.    Lower tax rates for families, small businesses, and corporations.

2.    Eliminate special-interest carve-outs.

3.    Reduce complexity in the tax code.

4.    Reduce the double taxation of savings and investment.

5.    Reduce the tax bias against headquartering businesses and locating jobs in America.

Outcomes:

1.    Greater investment and employment, increased economic activity, and a larger economy.

2.    A stable and predictable tax code under which families and employers are best able to plan for the future.

3.    Business decisions that are driven by economic potential, not by tax considerations.

4.    Reinvestment of the growth generated by tax reform into further pro-growth reforms.