Max Baucus: “besides being willing to accept the amendment offered by the Senator from Pennsylvania, I add that there are some…”

“besides being willing to accept the amendment offered by the Senator from Pennsylvania, I add that there are some portions of this bill which further make the Tax Code more complex. We often do that as we are trying to, on the one hand, balance the budget or fit within certain budget restrictions and, on the other hand, help a certain tax policy which, in effect, adds a lot more complexity to the code. Regrettably, the code is going to be much more complex after this legislation is passed, and it will be passed, than is the code today. We did, however, include one measure of tax simplification at my behest. It is small, but it is important, I think. There are many definitions in the code. There is a definition of a child for the purpose of the child tax credit or the earned-income tax credit or as an exemption as a dependent or for purposes of a head-of-household exemption. It depends on how many children the household has in terms of what additional credits or exemptions that head of household has. There are five definitions in the code, each different for each of the conditions I mentioned. We simplified that situation. We said, whether it is earned-income tax credit, the child credit, a dependent for the purpose of exemption or head-of-household exemption, the definition of child is the same. That will make the code a bit easier for taxpayers and practitioners. I appreciate the amendment offered by the Senator from Pennsylvania.”