Congressional Republicans are hard at work putting together their tax reform proposal and trying to get it on President Trump’s desk for a signature. They’re touting the plan’s tax cuts, its economy-boosting potential, and its cost savings over the next ten years.
One thing Republicans can’t claim, however, is that they’re plan will ultimately simply the tax code in any meaningful way. While stock of tax preparation industry’s leading firm tanked following the election, the company has since recovered, and is informing taxpayers that their business isn’t going to be all that affected by tax reform.
I’m speaking, of course, of H&R Block.
Obviously, if the tax code were simplified as a result of tax reform, it would demolish the business of a company like H&R Block, because nobody would need their services. In a world where Steve Forbes’s “postcard” flat tax proposal were passed, there would be no tax preparation industry.
And, indeed, that’s the kind of rhetoric we’ve heard from Republicans. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said the idea behind tax reform “has been how to make the code so fair and simple that most Americans will be able to file using a postcard-style system.” President Trump himself even joked regarding his tax plan that “The only people that aren’t going to like this are H&R Block.”
But alas, it will live on. According to Market Watch, “the country’s major tax preparers don’t appear to be fazed. H&R Block supports tax reform. ‘We agree that the tax code is too complex and too difficult for many Americans,’ said a spokesperson for H&R Block in a statement.” The statement continued: “With a long process road ahead and many potential changes before reaching the President’s desk, we view it as premature to speculate on the impact of draft legislation. Longer term, whatever reforms are eventually passed into law we will be here to administer them honestly and fairly and help our clients.”
As for the complexity of the tax code currently, the filing process is estimated to cost Americans collectively more than $20 billion and more than 1 billion hours, according to the Tax Foundation.
On a more positive note, two weeks ago the Senate unanimously approved (98-0) an amendment targeting special interests lobbying against tax reform. According to Flake, his amendment “targets the complexity of the tax code, which unnecessarily burdens average taxpayers while allowing special interests to carve out lucrative loopholes and tax giveaways.”
“This is a big win in the effort to prevent special interests from derailing tax reform. We have more preferences, loopholes, and deductions out there than we know what to do with and the unanimous passage of this amendment demonstrates that the Senate is serious about delivering a fairer and simpler tax code,” he commented.
Well, at least he’s doing something productive before dipping out of the Senate for good.
Do you still support tax reform? Does H&R Block’s support make you wary? Tell us your thoughts below!
