By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

Toss the calculator. Lose the tax expert. Forget the long forms. Americans could soon complete their taxes by filing out a single sheet of paper—a postcard.

This session, the U.S. House, Senate and the White House are working together to reform the American tax code.

“We are all united in the belief that the single most important action we can take to grow our economy and help the middle class get ahead is to fix our broken tax code for families, small businesses and American job creators competing at home and around the globe,” a joint statement from the group leaders read. “Our shared commitment to fixing America’s broken tax code represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and so for three months, we have been meeting regularly to develop a shared template for tax reform.”

The tax code was last reformed in 1986, according to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas.

In an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network, Brady said change is needed now, because the tax code has tripled in size and become much more complex since it was last reformed.

“America has fallen so far behind our competitors that we’re continuing to see American jobs and manufacturing research moved overseas. It’s a big drag on the economy. It’s one of the reasons there aren’t jobs for our young people. It’s tougher for our farmers and ranchers to compete around the world when their taxes are at 35 percent or more, and the rest of the world is half of that,” Brady said. “It makes it tough to compete and win. Now is the time—with a Republican House, a Republican Senate and the president—to get this done.”

The goal is to make taxes more fair and simple, Brady said.

“We want to grow jobs and paychecks. That means we’re proposing the lowest tax rates on our local businesses and farmers and ranchers in modern history, so our farmers and ranchers can compete anywhere in the world, including right here in the United States,” he said.

A permanent repeal of the death, or estate, tax is included in the blueprint for reform.

The proposal calls for tax brackets to be simplified from seven to three and for taxes to be lowered at each income level.

“We think you ought to keep more of what you earn,” Brady said. “We protect more of the first dollars that our farmers and ranchers earn by doubling the standard deduction, and then we cut the taxes more for your savings and investments.”

The home mortgage deduction would remain, as would charitable deductions. The college tax credit and the child tax credit would also remain.

“I really think the big question to the American people, because this is their tax code, is ‘Do you want us to go with something as fair and simple as a postcard? Or do you want to keep the current tax code, which is as thick as a phone book?’” Brady said.

He encourages those interested in tax reform to contact their U.S. representative and senators to discuss the issue.
“You’ve got to stay on top of the whole process so that Washington doesn’t, at some point, give up on this,” Brady said.

If enacted, the House Ways and Means Committee predicts more than 140,000 new jobs in Texas with a more than $4,000 gain in after-tax income for median-income families.

Markup is expected to begin this month with a goal of wrapping up tax reform efforts by the end of the year.