Americans spend a mind-boggling 6.1 billion hours each year filling out tax forms. Senator Begich recognizes this is inefficient and represents a broken and overly complex tax code.

To fix this Senator Begich has cosponsored the Bipartisan tax Fairness and Simplification Act which could reduce the national debt by $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The bill would:

• Create 2.3 million new jobs for Americans;
• Cut the federal deficit by an average $61 billion a year;
• Add $500 billion to America’s GDP by 2015;
• Allow most taxpayers to file a simple one-page 1040 form in less than an hour;
• Hold down taxes for all Americans by ending unfair tax breaks and loopholes;
• Reduces the number of individual tax brackets from six to three: 15 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent;
• Allow small businesses with annual receipts of up to $1 million to permanently expense all equipment and inventory costs in a single year;
• Create a single flat corporate tax rate of 24 percent.

For individuals: Wyden-Coats-Begich reduces the number of individual tax brackets from the current six to three: 15 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent and eliminates the Alternative Minimum Tax completely. Middle-class and low-income taxpayers will benefit from Wyden-Coats’ near tripling of the standard tax deduction, which will not only reduce tax bills but relieve Americans of the stress and responsibility of maintaining the records and receipts needed to document itemized deductions. These simplifications alone will make it possible for most taxpayers to file a simple one-page 1040 form that most Americans will be able to fill out in less than an hour. Moreover, by eliminating tax breaks and loopholes that allow some Americans to pay less than others, Wyden-Coats is able to hold down rates for everyone. According to the Tax Policy Center, most families making up to $200,000 a year will pay the same or less in taxes under Wyden-Coats-Begich than they do today.

For businesses: Wyden-Coats-Begich takes steps to level the playing field and make investment in the United States more attractive to businesses of all sizes. To encourage small business growth, more than 95 percent of small businesses – those with gross annual receipts of up to $1 million – will be able to permanently expense all equipment and inventory costs in a single year. Wyden-Coats-Begich also makes American companies more competitive by reducing the top corporate tax rate and replacing the existing six corporate rates and eight brackets with a single flat rate of 24 percent. Currently, U.S. corporations pay the second highest tax rate among industrialized countries. Under Wyden-Coats-Begich, companies investing in the United States would pay less than they would in Canada, Germany, France and many other U.S. trading partners.

More than 6.3 million new jobs were created in just the two years that followed the 1986 tax reform. The Heritage Foundation predicted comparable results when it evaluated an earlier version of the legislation which Wyden authored with former Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). The Heritage Foundation found that the legislation would create 2.3 million new jobs a year for Americans while cutting the federal deficit by an average of $61 billion a year. Similarly, the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI published a paper concluding that such an approach would ‘create nearly two million jobs on a net basis and add an extra $500 billion to GDP by 2015.’ The Alliance estimated that the revenue generated by that added economic activity could reduce the debt by $1.2 trillion over the coming decade.