Charles Boustany

We will now begin our hearing on the tax-related provisions in the President's health care law.

We are starting to see that these provisions make it harder for businesses to create good paying jobs and may adversely affect the quality and accessibility of health care.

The President's health care law imposes a number of new taxes and reporting requirements on individuals and various industries--and many of those tax hikes hit the middle class.

We still do, but I'll say this: I'll miss having you here, and I look forward to keeping in touch in the future.

Thank you, Chairman Dreier. Let me say thank you, first of all, for your tremendous service to our country in your capacity as a Member of Congress and as chairman of the Rules Committee. I want to thank you for your leadership on…

Thank you, Ms. Pickering.

This was not solely an IRS determination but it was done with legal counsel at IRS in combination with those at Treasury and the White House?

It is imperative that we take a close look at these new duties and consider the impact they will have on the agency and the taxpayers it serves.

Under President Obama's health care law, the IRS is now charged with administering much of the health care law.

In recent years, the Subcommittee has held hearings on the IRS's budget, its administration of our complex and convoluted Tax Code, and an estimated $100 billion in taxpayer dollars that have been lost to fraud, waste, and abuse over the…

Of course, we know about all the expiring tax provisions that are coming at the end of the year unless Congress duly acts.

Okay. Thank you. That was very helpful.

I think there is an underlying policy question that I think Congress should engage.

I would probably do so in a manner that, first of all, I would tax all commercial activities.

I am hopeful that our Full Committee in a bipartisan way will be able to move forward with the tax reform to lend greater clarity to the Tax Code, but also simplicity that will make compliance easier.

Is there anything Congress needs to do from a legislative standpoint to provide more clarity?

We will discuss today how the Form 990 was changed, whether those changes have promoted compliance and transparency.

The focus of today's hearing is on 501(c)(3) public charities, the largest category of tax exempt organizations.

Welcome to this morning's hearing on public charities.

Given the size and scale of the operations of public charities, which in 2008 had over $2.5 trillion in assets, it is critical that the Subcommittee continue its review of the tax-exempt sector. Indeed, over the last two decades, the…

This one-size-fits-all approach is a disaster. That's why we must repeal this bill in the name of quality, in the name of cost, and in name of getting this economy back on track.

It is great to see you here today, and we appreciate the tremendous work you all are doing to reform this complex system in the U.K.

My home State of Louisiana has a real stake in this. We are a State that depends very heavily on trade and exports.

Our trade policy in this is a critical part, a component, of our foreign policy.

So clearly building a trade relationship with Russia would help us work with them to alleviate those concerns.