Walberg Weekly Wrap-Up: "Real Reform Needed As Tax Day Nears"

Press Release

As hopefully all of you are aware, Tuesday April 15 is Tax Day for all Americans. Tax Day always brings to mind two things for me: how complicated our tax code is and how high our taxes really are.

It is no secret that our U.S. tax code is complicated, frustrating and time-consuming. It is also expensive. Did you know that in 2005, the average taxpayer paid $1,839 per household in compliance costs?

Sadly, the average taxpayer must work six days per year just to pay for the cost of preparing his or her taxes for that year. Billions of hours and billions of dollars are wasted every year because of our complex tax code.

A 2007 Tax Foundation Study found that over 75 percent of Americans believe our tax structure needs serious reform. As a supporter of simplifying the tax code, cutting compliance costs and lowering America's tax burden, I am more than willing to work with my colleagues in Congress to reform our current broken system.

In addition to how complicated the U.S. tax code is, sometimes it is easy to lose track of the staggering amount of personal income we each pay into the tax system. This year alone, the average American taxpayer will work for 113 days just to pay for our government. This is five days longer than the average taxpayer will work for food, clothing and housing combined.

Last month, Congress passed and I voted against a budget plan that raises taxes by $3,000 per taxpayer. I have introduced a bill, the Tax Increase Prevention Act, that would stop the massive tax increase being proposed.

My bill (H.R. 2734) would make permanent the tax relief of 2001 and 2003, and stop tax increases on raising children, earning money, saving and investing, operating a small business, adopting a child, paying off college loans and even dying.

In Michigan, families and businesses have unfortunately felt first-hand the powerful, negative impact of tax increases, as Michigan has experienced job losses, declining personal incomes, diminishing home values and the highest unemployment rate in the nation. By proposing a massive $3,000 per taxpayer tax increase, Democrats in this Congress are following the same failed blueprint that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm used to drive our state economy into a ditch and to destroy Michigan jobs.

In these turbulent economic times, Congress needs to encourage job creation, hard work, investment and innovation. With Americans facing rising health care costs, high energy prices and economic instability, the absolute last thing families need is to be hit with a massive job-killing tax increase.

Our tax system is needs reform, and so does our tax policy. My Tax Day pledge to south-central Michigan taxpayers is that I will continue working for real tax reform and tax policies that leave more resources with the hard-working people and small businesses that make our communities strong.

Source