Brooklyn's Progress
December 2003

Staten Island, NY -- Congressman Vito Fossella (R-NY13) recently announced that he is cosponsoring legislation to create a bipartisan Congressional Commission that would be charged with drafting a new tax code that is simple, fair and efficient. Congressman Fossella joined with certified public accountants, tax professionals and residents to unveil the measure on Nov. 24.

To demonstrate the complexity of the U.S. tax code, Congressman Fossella stacked on a table 11 large boxes (each box is 18 x 11 x 10) containing a total of 55,000 sheets of paper - the size of the tax code, tax regulations and various IRS rulings.

"The tax code is out of control," Congressman Fossella said. "It is so complex and long-winded that Americans now spend 6.42 billion hours on tax forms and record-keeping - time they could otherwise devote to their families, hobbies or working a few more hours to boost their income. Worse, the tax code discourages Americans from saving, investing and planning for their future. It discriminates against married people and hurts those who are struggling to make ends meet. We need to scrap the tax code once and for all. This Commission would bring together experts in their field and empower them to design a new tax code that is simple, fair and efficient. The new code must reward hard work and respect the right of the American people to keep more of the money they earn."

The Tax Reform Action Commission Act (H.R. 3215) would authorize the Congress to create a 15-member Commission to study the problems of the United States tax code and recommend a brand new system to Congress within two years. The Commission would be charged with developing a new tax code that is:

• Simple, transparent and efficient
• Fair and equitable to all Americans
• Neutral between activities and between current consumption and future consumption

The Commission's members would be appointed by the President (three appointments), the Senate Majority Leader (four appointments), the Senate Minority Leader (two appointments), the Speaker of the House (four appointments) and the House Minority Leader (two appointments).

The Commission would conduct its research and outreach through hearings, agency information requests and consulting with both public and private entities.
The legislation requires the Commission to submit its recommendations within two years and includes language to ensure prompt consideration in both the House and Senate.
The legislation was introduced by Rep. Jim DeMint (SC-4) and is cosponsored by 63 Members of Congress.

Tax Code Facts

• Tax Code FactsIt is estimated that roughly 132.332 million tax returns were filed in 2003. 
•  The instruction book for the standard 1040 form is now 126 pages long, more than triple the number in 1975.
• The 2002 1040A "Short" form instruction book is 85 pages long. 
•  Americans spend roughly 6.42 billion hours on tax forms and record keeping, accounting for 84 percent of the federal government's entire paperwork burden. By way of contrast, 6.4 billion hours ago was 734,645 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
•  The average taxpayer spends 28 hours and 6 minutes completing Form 1040 and common schedules, according to Forbes magazine.
• The U.S. tax code, its regulations and related material span 54,846 pages in more than 25 volumes, according to CCH Inc.
• The tax code itself contains 1,395,028 words (nearly 319 times the number of words in the U.S. Constitution) and corresponding regulations consist of an additional 8,551,444 words (more than 11 times the number of words in the King James Bible.)
• The tax code contains 693 sections that are applicable to individual taxpayers, 1,501 sections applicable to businesses and 445 sections applicable to tax-exempt organizations, employee plans and governments.
• The average American will work 109 days to pay his federal, state and local taxes.
  The IRS gave the wrong answer to taxpayers seeking help 8.5 million times. It is interesting to note that taxpayers are held responsible for errors that result from bad advice from the IRS, according to the National Retail Sales Tax Alliance.