OP-ED: A Bold Tax Overhaul Just Passed Congress

No matter what you think about the $1.5 trillion tax plan that just passed Congress and is heading to President Donald Trump’s desk, it’s undeniably bold. As former President Obama said, “Elections have consequences.” After a 2016 GOP victory, the question is whether the bill Republicans passed today will have enough time to manifest its benefits to voters before the 2018 election. I think it will, but if not, that’s something the voters will decide. It’s the biggest change to our tax code since 1986, and as I wrote in a CNN op-ed, we were well overdue for an overhaul. At roughly 4 million words, the tax code is all but undecipherable. According to the Small Business Administration, many small business owners who do their own taxes spend more than 40 hours every year preparing and filing their federal tax returns. Many small businesses hire somebody to do it, another cost burden. The National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent organization within the IRS, found that complying with the code costs American taxpayers $195 billion a year. Small businesses alone spend between $15 and $16 billion a year on compliance costs, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. Talk about immoral. That’s time parents could be spending…
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