PERAB Tax Subcommittee Report Expected Today Amid Low Expectations
By Jonathan Nicholson
Publication Date: 08/27/2010
A subcommittee of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board is slated to report Aug. 27 on ideas to improve the tax system, but one expert said Aug. 26 it is doubtful the recommendations will have much impact.
According to an Aug. 11 notice in the Federal Register,, the Tax Reform Subcommittee is to present its report, which will include “a spectrum of reform ideas relating to tax simplification, enforcement of existing tax laws, and reform of the corporate tax system, without considering policies that would raise taxes on families making less than $250,000” .
“The PERAB is not tasked with providing its own policy recommendations for the Administration and the final report will be an almanac of options from a broad range of viewpoints. The PERAB will vote on presenting the report as formal advice to the President,” according to the notice. The PERAB will meet via conference call.
The board was created by the White House to provide for independent advice from outside experts on matters of economic policy and is headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.
Release Date Seen as Tip-Off
J.D. Foster, a former Office of Management and Budget official in the Bush administration and a senior fellow with Heritage Foundation, said the timing of the report's release—with President Obama out of town and in the next-to-last week of August, when much of official Washington has left for vacation—indicates the report will likely not have much impact.
“At best, it's a recognition they aren't going to say anything,” he said. “If they had anything, those are not the circumstances in which you'd say it.”
However, Foster said it is “entirely possible” that some of the report's ideas could show up as proposals in the Obama administration's 2012 budget submission to Congress in February.
The complete text of this article can be found in the BNA Daily Tax Report, August 27, 2010. For comprehensive coverage of taxation, pension, budget, and accounting issues, sign up for a free trial or subscribe to the BNA Daily Tax Report today. Learn more »
© 2010, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
