Tipsheet

Wyden-Gregg: A Promising Start on Tax Legislation

National Journal (subscription required) has the scoop but Sens. Ron Wyden and Judd Gregg have unveiled a new tax proposal that contains provisions aimed at elminating the Alternative Minimum tax, slashing the corporate income tax, increasing income taxes on the wealthiest Americans and increasing the marriage deduction.

Perhaps most appealing, the plan significantly simplifies the tax code, reducing individual income tax returns to a single-page document to be filed to the IRS. Simplification of the tax code is something conservatives have rightly been clamoring for.

Based on the National Journal's description of the plan, this seems like a bipartisan plan that conservatives should be able to support. There are tax increases in the plan but it might be something that conservatives should be open to compromise on. The elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax is important for middle-class taxpayers who are increasingly close to being ensnared in the tax and the slashing of the corporate income tax rate (35%, second-highest in the industrialized world).

More details will be emerging, and perhaps I'm looking at this with rose-colored glasses, but this seems to be a promising start on appealing tax legislation.