Rep. Brady Unveils Simplified Tax Blueprint At Reagan Ranch

SANTA BARBARA, CA — House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady unveiled a comprehensive tax reform plan that Brady and other key Republican leaders believe will jumpstart the economy.

Brady, who was joined by other Republican lawmakers, made the announcement Wednesday evening at Ronald Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo, in Santa Barbara, Ca., 31 years to the date that Reagan signed his tax cut plan, which was designed to lower tax rates and close loopholes.

It was the last time any administration tackled tax reform, but real change and effective tax reform is what Brady has been talking about since before the Trump Administration took office.

“Our challenge is to build that legacy once again for our nation.,”Brady said.

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was enacted on October 1986, simplified the tax code by lowering the top tax rate from 50 percent to 28 percent and raised the bottom tax rate from 11 percent to 15 percent and altered tax brackets.

The Reagan Tax Reform Act had bipartisan support in both houses, and Brady is confident his plan to simplify the tax code will also have bipartisan support.

“The Reagan reforms were all about the American people, about workers, middle class families and Main Street businesses,” he said. “It was easy to file your taxes. It was focused on competitiveness and economic growth.”

Brady said the current tax code would be a disappointment to Reagan, if he were here to see it today.

RELATED: Brady Shares Tax Reform Vision With Constituents At Planned Town Hall Visits

Brady has said routinely that the tax code benefits the special interests, cost the economy jobs and does nothing to benefit the American people, and needs to go.

“I just don’t accept where we’re at right now in the tax code; our local businesses and our middle class families, they don’t accept it either,” Brady said.

The Brady Blueprint involves a simplified tax reporting system that would allow all Americans to file their taxes by using a simple post card.

Other proposals of the Brady Blueprint include:

• Consolidate the system down to three tax brackets, and lower the top individual income tax rate to 33 percent.
• Simplify tax filing for families by creating a larger standard deduction and a larger child and dependent tax credit.
• Make it easier to pay for college by streamlining the maze of education tax benefits.
• Eliminate the alternative minimum tax so you don’t have to do your taxes twice a year.
• Reward work by improving the EITC.
• Encourage charitable giving by providing a real tax incentive.
• Help families plan for retirement by reforming savings provisions.
• Stop overtaxing “Made in America” products so that our manufacturers can compete.
• Repeal the death tax so that the loss of a family member will no longer be taxable.
• Restructure the IRS around three major units: one for individuals and families, one for businesses of all sizes, and one that provides an independent “small claims court” approach to resolving routine disputes quickly.
• Install a new commissioner, subject to term limits, who will be required to administer the new tax code with fairness and keep the politics out of the IRS.
• Cut down on IRS intimidation by creating an Office of Dispute Resolution to serve as an independent arbiter to protect your rights and resolve disputes in a timely manner.

The plan would also foster job growth and creation and force the Internal Revenue Service to work for and not against the American people, Brady said.

U.S. Rep Peter Roskam (R-IL), who chairs the subcommittee on tax policy, said the American people are burder and feel like they can’t catch a break because of the tax code.

“It’s not about class envy and it’s not about jealousy. It’s about feeling overwhelmed, and you’ve got a tax code that is complicit in making people feel overwhelmed,” he said.

Congress is expected to consider tax reform legislation before the end of 2017.

Image: Official Protrait

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