Johnny Isakson's Position Statement on Taxes

The federal tax code is a source of anxiety and frustration for Americans and imposes a significant compliance burden for taxpayers who spend countless hours preparing and completing tax returns annually. Since our tax code was last overhauled in 1986, thousands of piecemeal changes have been made to it. I will work to advance comprehensive changes to our tax system that are long overdue.

Reforming and updating our tax code should entail a serious review of the merits of each and every tax code provision, including a cost benefit analysis. I am mindful that the impact of tax reform should not result in a net tax net increase on the job creators and workers in our great country. Equally important is that reform should avoid retroactive tax increases as it is simply unfair to taxpayers who made decisions based on the tax rules at the time only to have the rules changed in the middle of the game.

I have always believed that taxpayer dollars are best left in the hands of the people who earned them. In 2001, Congress passed the largest federal tax relief package in a generation. I voted for this plan while serving in the U.S. House because it reduced taxes for everyone who pays income taxes, eliminated the death tax and marriage penalty tax, and increased the child tax credit.

In 2013, after these tax cuts had expired, I voted to reinstate the lower individual rates for 99.1 percent of Americans and to make those lower rates permanent. I also voted to reinstate the increased child tax credit and make it permanent, to permanently protect tens of thousands of farmers and family businesses from having to pay the estate tax upon the death of a loved one, and to permanently fix the alternative minimum tax to protect some 30 million households a year from having to pay it.

As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which is responsible for writing our nation’s tax laws, I welcome your suggestions on how to simplify, make fairer and lower the current tax burden borne by taxpayers. Together, we can make a difference to craft a tax code for the 21^stcentury.

Know that I will be a voice for smart, pro-growth, commonsense tax reform that will bring tax relief to America’s families and small businesses.