Following a week-long in-state/district work period, Congress returns to Washington D.C. this week for a three-week work period. While fiscal and tax issues are expected to take a back seat to other public policy debates, such as immigration reform, there will be serious activity behind the scenes on tax reform this month. The tax-writing panels on both sides of the Capitol will continue to slog through the various aspects of the tax code and examine reform proposals.
To that end, the Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartisan panel created to assist Congress with the development and analysis of tax-related legislation, released its summary of stakeholder submissions to the 11 House Ways & Means Committee Tax Reform Working Groups that were due last month. (ASPPA submitted comments to the Ways & Means Pensions/Retirement Tax Reform Working Group arguing that the current retirement tax incentives are unique, fair, and efficient, along with a set of proposals to improve the private retirement system.)
The 558-page JCT report is divided into four sections:
• an overview of present tax law
• a more detailed description of present law organized by tax reform working group topic area
• summaries of selected comprehensive tax reform proposals
• summaries of the stakeholder submissions to the tax reform working groups
Bipartisan meetings of Ways & Means Committee members are scheduled over the course of this work period to digest the report’s findings. ASPPA will remain engaged with these members as they analyze the report.
On the Senate side, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) announced that he will retire at the end of the current session of Congress rather than face reelection in 2014. This key political development has added a sense of urgency to the tax reform effort, since both Baucus and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), whose chairmanship is term-limited, will step down as leaders of their committees at the end of the 113th Congress. Therefore, these two key leaders will push hard for reforms of the tax code before they depart.
In light of the developing political situation, the ASPPA Government Affairs team has been meeting with Hill staff whose members serve on the Ways & Means and Senate Finance Committees to continue to make the case that the retirement tax deferral is progressive and effective in helping rank and file workers save for their retirement. ASPPA has also been talking to staff about proposals to improve the current retirement system that can be incorporated into any future tax legislation.
Andrew Remo is ASPPA's Congressional Affairs Manager.
