Grassley, Baucus Release, Will Review More JCT Options to Close the Tax Gap
GRASSLEY, BAUCUS RELEASE, WILL REVIEW MORE JCT OPTIONS TO CLOSE THE TAX GAP
Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, and Sen. Max Baucus, ranking member, today released a new set of discussion options for closing the tax gap from the non-partisan congressional Joint Committee on Taxation and said they will review the options carefully. The tax gap is the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid, estimated at $345 billion per year. The committee could choose whether or not to endorse any of the new options in the coming months. The senators are interested in receiving public comment on the recommendations by the close of business on Friday, Dec. 1, 2006, e-mailed to taxgap@finance-rep.senate.gov.
"There's no magic bullet for closing the tax gap," Grassley said. "There are many sources for the gap. We need to keep finding ways to get taxpayers to pay what they owe and keep chipping away until the tax gap is as small as possible. This new report gives the committee new options to review in the coming months. We may not end up endorsing all of them, but this document is a good starting point for discussion."
Baucus said, "The Joint Committee on Taxation has identified some useful opportunities for closing the tax gap. The tax gap drains $345 billion from America's economy every year, and a good look at these options will help the Committee decide how best to move forward. We've got to keep moving the ball on the tax gap. The Treasury Department and IRS should fully join the fight with a more complete strategy as well."
The latest batch of recommendations came at the senators' request as a follow-up to the Joint Committee on Taxation's 2005 report, "Options to Improve Tax Compliance and Reform Tax Expenditures" (JCS-2-05). Grassley and Baucus successfully enacted several of those recommendations in bills, now law, including the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005. Other recommendations they pursued received Senate passage but not House passage.
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