President Obama has asked Paul Volcker to head a new tax reform panel. Here is a sampling of TPC writings on tax reform.

A Blueprint for Tax Reform and Health Reform

Leonard Burman

This paper outlines a plan for a VAT dedicated to paying for a new universal health insurance voucher combined with a vastly simplified and much flatter income tax. Top income tax rates could be cut to 25% or less and most taxpayers would not have to file returns. The health care voucher would offset the inherent regressivity of a VAT, since the voucher would be worth more than the VAT tax paid by most households. Moreover, with the VAT rate tied to health spending, the public would have a vested interest in reining in the growth of health care costs.

Read the full article here

Individual Taxpayers and Federal Tax Reform

William Gale

In the next few years, several factors will push tax issues to the forefront of policy discussions. First, under current law, almost all of the Bush Administration's tax cuts will expire at the end of 2010. A second factor is the rapid growth in the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which will increase the inequity and complexity of the tax system. A third issue is the expected increase in government spending over the next several decades. Despite these pressures on the system, tax changes are not inevitable, and achieving meaningful reform—that is, with substantial design improvements—will require strong political leadership. Gale's testimony focuses on some overarching principles that should guide tax reform efforts.

Read the full testimony here

Tax Reform 2.0

Rosanne Altshuler

President Obama announced yesterday that he has asked former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to head a new tax reform panel that will make recommendations by December 4th. This is great news. The current tax system is a complicated mess and can’t produce the revenues we will need in the coming years. But there is no reason for Volcker to reinvent the wheel. His panel could start by looking at the work of a bipartisan tax reform panel established by President Bush in 2005. I may be biased, since I served as the staff’s chief economist, but I think we designed a pretty good blueprint.

Read the full blog here

Tax Reform Panel Archive

President Bush established a panel to examine problems with the federal tax system and to recommend options that would make the tax code simpler, fairer, and more conducive to economic growth. In November 2005, the bipartisan panel issued a final report detailing its findings and recommendations. After studying a number of reform proposals, the panel unanimously recommended two tax reform plans: the Simplified Income Tax plan, which is based on the current income tax system and the Growth and Investment Tax Plan, which would move the tax system closer to a consumption tax. The panel report and supporting materials provide a wealth of material on the state of the current tax system and the pros and cons of different reform options.

Although the Tax Reform Panel's excellent website has closed, you can find the panel's report and supporting materials here