Ira Stoll on the GOP's Dueling Plans for Tax Reform
House Republicans are quietly moving ahead with dueling plans to replace the tax code with a simpler system, reports Ira Stoll. It's a hot topic in advance of the April 15 filing deadline for individual income tax returns. The latest budget blueprint from the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Paul Ryan, reports that Americans spend an estimated 6 billion hours and more than $160 billion on tax compliance. That dollar figure is not the tax payments, it's just the tax-related compliance spending on things like software, accountants, and lawyers. A lot of Americans are thinking there has got to be a better way.