It's tax day, or rather, Tax Day, the April 15th deadline for filing personal income tax returns and a reliable news peg for stories about America's broken tax system. Here's what we find notable today:
Business Roundtable President John Engler will focus on tax reform in comments this evening at the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Chamber of Commerce's Spring Advocacy event, "Issues Shaping the Business Climate in 2014."
He will argue that setting the corporate tax rate at a more globally competitive 25 percent rate and moving to a modernized international tax system -- one that doesn't punish companies for bringing earnings back home to the United States -- are central elements to BRT's economic growth agenda. (As Veronique De Rugy from the Mercatus Center recently documented, the United States has had the highest statutory corporate tax rate among developed economies for two years in a row now.)
Yet even as we work toward a major tax overhaul, we also have to address the immediate issue of what's known as tax extenders. From Engler's prepared remarks:
Fifty-five provisions of the tax code expired on December 31, 2013, both individual and business-related. They included many provisions of critical importance to the U.S. business climate, for example, the R&D tax credit, the active financing and look-through rules, and 50 percent bonus depreciation.
With all these expired tax provisions, businesses are now left in limbo as they try to make decisions about investment and hiring.
Congress should extend these provisions – retroactively – and make them permanent. An on-again, off-again tax policy – any kind of policy – makes business planning much more difficult.
Business Roundtable stressed the importance of passing the extenders legislation in a March 31 letter from Louis R. Chenevert, Chairman and CEO of United Technologies, who chairs BRT's Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee:
Business Roundtable and its CEOs are steadfast in their determination to achieve the enactment of comprehensive pro-growth tax reform and to work with Congressional leaders to achieve that goal. Addressing expired tax provisions now can facilitate that outcome while promoting job creation and economic growth.
Elsewhere on the tax front:
- National Association of Manufacturers, "New NAM Poll Says Voters Want Candidates Who Support a Simpler Tax Code":
In a new poll released today, voters say they want policymakers to work together to enact a simpler, fairer tax code. Of particular interest, American taxpayers are taking a big picture look at tax reform, offering strong support for pro-growth policies even if their personal tax burden is unaffected. The main takeaway is that voters will make tax reform a significant part of their decision in the next election.
- Tax Foundation, "How Many Words are in the Tax Code?"
- National Review, The Agenda Blog, "Our Federal Tax System Explained, in Charts."
- Wall Street Journal editorial, "What's the Matter With Illinois?"