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Taxes
Nationwide, taxpayers spend an estimated 1.8 billion hours complying with the tax code, and businesses spend about 3.6 billion hours. Our current tax code is not only complex and burdensome, but also unfair and un-American. For instance, the proliferation of deductions, credits and other special preferences in the tax law not only makes the code complex, but also creates a situation where taxpayers with similar incomes can pay vastly different amounts in taxes. This uneven treatment of taxpayers is fundamentally unfair and is at odds with the American value of equality under the law.
The tax code also hinders economic opportunity and growth through punitive taxes on saving, work and entrepreneurship. The National Retail Sales Tax and other reform proposals would certainly accomplish reform of our system by legislating an end to the income tax.
Over the course of his administration, President Bush has proposed and signed into law several separate tax relief measures, resulting in significant tax relief for millions of American families and businesses. Failure to extend the President's tax cuts permanently would dramatically increase the burden on American taxpayers in future years.
I believe that the current tax structure is too burdensome on taxpayers and puts an unnecessary strain on working families. You can be certain that I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to pursue responsible tax policies to ensure that you and your family can keep more of the money you have earned so you can decide how to spend it.
One thing is for certain; we need to make the tax cuts permanent. Different tax relief measures expire on an irregular basis. In other words, they do not expire at the same time. For example, in 2005, the increased child credit, additional marriage penalty relief and expanded 10-percent bracket will shrink, increasing the tax burden on a family of four earning $40,000 by $915. In 2006, allowable small business expensing will shrink from $100,000 to just $25,000, increasing the cost of capital investments for America's small businesses.
The cumulative effect of tax relief on the economy has been strong, laying the groundwork for increased economic growth and job creation. We should vote once and for all to make tax relief permanent.
With our economy growing stronger, tax issues and tax reform have become and increasingly important issue in the 109th Congress. While some in Congress are satisfied with the current system, I believe that we can do much better.
One key tax that I feel needs to be eliminated is the burdensome estate tax. People of this nation are taxed on so much of their hard-earned income as they go through life that to be hit with a "death tax" is a gross injustice. While the House has been able to pass a bill that completely repeals the death tax, this effort has met resistance in the Senate. In July of this year, the House passed a compromise bill that increased the estate and gift tax exemptions and decreased the tax rate for those estates falling outside the exemption range. This important step was combined with extensions of several important tax breaks such as credit on research and development as well as an itemized deduction of state and local sales tax, an important benefit for Floridians.
The Senate again attempted to tackle the compromise language on estate tax and other tax break extensions, but sadly failed. It is my sincere desire to see another attempt made before the end of this year. Hardworking people do not deserve to be taxed after their death, and our complex and onerous tax code is in dire need of reform.
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