A balanced program for tax reform based upon the common sense idea of lowering taxes out of surplus revenues.
Corporate tax reform is nice in theory but tough in practice. It most likely requires lower tax rates and the closing of loopholes, which many companies are sure to fight. And whatever new, lower tax rate is determined, there will probably be another country willing to lower its rate further, creating a sad race to zero.
Tax reform is taking the taxes off things that have been taxed in the past and putting taxes on things that haven't been taxed before.
We've got to have comprehensive tax reform.
We need to stop kicking the can down the road and rethink our entire tax system toward long-term, comprehensive tax reform.
I would go to them and I would explain this is the price of going forward. We're going to move ahead in all these other areas. We're moving ahead in tax reform and GST, we are moving ahead on trade, but this will not be done at the cost of the environment.
We all want a simpler code, but tax reform is about much more. It is about ensuring that everyone pays their fair share. The tax code is also used to promote behavior that we as a nation support, such as home ownership or charitable contributions.
To introduce a whole new tax regime, that would be modern tax reform. But that's too big a task.
Tax reform done right will improve incentives to invest in U.S. production and to repatriate profits.
It's not coincidence that the U.S. is in last place in the world in terms of corporate tax rate. It's because our system is set up to block tax reform.
