Issue Position: Tax Reform

Issue Position

Principles
Simplify the tax code
Lower rates for businesses to encourage job growth
Allow families to keep more of what they take home

I support lowering taxes for individuals and businesses, and fundamentally restructuring the tax code to make it fairer and less complicated. The more money individuals and businesses have to spend, the stronger and more flexible the economy will be.

Our federal tax system constrains business, limits job growth, and hurts American competiveness. Moreover, it is needlessly complicated. In fact, it is estimated that American families and businesses spend 6.1 billion hours each year filing taxes. That is why we must simplify our tax code so families can keep more of their hard earned money, businesses can hire additional workers, and our economy can expand.

Comprehensive tax reform begins with eliminating loopholes and recapturing improper refunds, which cost the government billions of dollars each year. Streamlining loopholes and deductions will reduce the burden of preparing taxes and enable all tax rates to be lowered. I have cosponsored H.R. 25, the Fair Tax Act, which would fundamentally restructure the tax code. The bill would replace the current tax system with a broad-based consumption tax. I have also cosponsored H.R. 352, the Tax Code Termination Act, which would eliminate the current tax code, and call on Congress to replace it with a better one.

I also oppose raising taxes, which will stifle our economic recovery and take money out of the pockets of families. At a time when our national debt is approaching $17 trillion, the government must focus on living within its means. Higher taxes only give government license to spend more at a time when the need to reduce spending has never been greater. For this reason, I opposed the fiscal cliff deal, which increased taxes on many small businesses, the real drivers of our economy, and will add $4 trillion to our deficit.

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