House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Discusses Comprehensive Tax Reform

Late last month, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI-04) issued a 979-page "discussion draft" of comprehensive tax reform. While chances of advancing the plan in this Congress are very slim, the document remains incredibly significant. It is a realistic, revenue-neutral plan, not a pie in the sky promise of tax reform. An article in Forbes magazine noted that "it is the ultimate reality check on tax reform. It is far more complicated and painful than marketers of tax reform have told the public to expect," and "it is unlikely that any realistic tax reform would be any shorter or sweeter than the Camp draft." Additionally, this document is an actual starting point for the next Ways and Means chairman to begin working from in 2015.

It is a real world document that Ways and Means and Joint Tax staff have spent years working on. They have incorporated their expertise with that of hundreds of experts who understand the daily realities of modern tax practice and have come up with politically and administratively realistic, detailed suggestions on how to improve the code.

• NRMCA's Elizabeth Fox summary
• Deloitte summary 
• The Tax Foundation summary