Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “In 1996, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich stated the Tax Code over the years has become increasingly politicized and is seen…”

“In 1996, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich stated the Tax Code over the years has become increasingly politicized and is seen less as a simple tool for raising revenues than as an instrument for social and economic engineering, exponentially increasing the complexity of the code. The current system is indefensible. Clearly, the small business community in America has been subject to more tax law complexity year after year. For example, the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 makes 657 Tax Code changes which expanded the Tax Code by more than 50 pages. The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Act of 2003 made 51 Tax Code changes and expanded the Tax Code by 12 pages. The IRS estimates that the average taxpayer with self-employed status has the greatest compliance burden in terms of preparation, 59 hours. And this is about 10 hours longer than in 1994. Even the House-passed version of the FSC/ETI bill from this year has 109 tax changes. This will encompass at least 200 additional Tax Code lines and at least 50 new pages of statutory language and footnotes. Mr. Speaker, America's small businesses are the engine powering the largest, most robust and most innovative economy in the world.”