Congress of the United States JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION Washington, DC 20515–6453 Honorable Charles H. Taylor Page 11 Mr. Chairman, I recognize fully the budgetary constraints that make your work so difficult. At the same time, I hope that you will appreciate the important role the Joint Committee on Taxation plays in the analysis and development of tax legislation. I firmly believe that the nonpartisan technical tax experts on the Joint Committee staff provide a service to the Congress that is not and cannot be duplicated by any other Congressional office. I respectfully urge the Members of the Subcommittee to respond favorably to the Joint Committee's funding request for fiscal year 2001. Congress of the United States Honorable Charles H. Taylor JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION Washington, DC 20513–6433 D. Anticipated Workload of the Joint Committee on Taxation for Calendar Year 2000 During 2000, the Joint Committee staff's workload will be at least equivalent to what it has been in the past several years. The Joint Committee staff will be extensively involved in the legislative process to provide tax relief to the American taxpayers. Health-related revenue provisions are also expected to be considered as are a variety of pension-related provisions. The Joint Committee staff will (1) develop legislative proposals, (2) assist in the drafting of such proposals, (3) provide revenue estimates for numerous legislative options and amendments, (4) prepare markup documents and committee reports, and (5) provide additional economic analysis to the Members. In addition to this anticipated legislative activity, the Joint Committee staff will continue to satisfy its new responsibilities under the IRS Reform Act. The Joint Committee staff is now required to prepare a complexity analysis for inclusion in Committee and Conference reports for all revenue legislation. The Joint Committee staff is required to prepare materials for the use of the Congress in connection with joint reviews relating to the operations of the Internal Revenue Service that will occur during calendar years 1999-2003. The Joint Committee staff will complete work on its study of the effectiveness of the present-law tax rules in deterring taxmotivated expatriation. The Joint Committee staff will begin work on a comprehensive study relating to the complexity of the present-law tax system. The Joint Committee staff's experience with the other studies mandated by the IRS Reform Act indicates that this study will require substantial staff resources that may exceed the additional amounts appropriated to the Joint Committee for fiscal year 2000. The Joint Committee staff hopes to complete a study that will provide the Congress with relevant information on the sources of complexity in the present-law tax system and ways in which such complexity could be addressed. E. Summary Mr. Chairman, we hope that you will approve the appropriation request of the Joint Committee on Taxation. We believe that this request is the minimum amount necessary to fund the operations of the Joint Committee during fiscal year 2001. The Joint Committee staff workload for 1999 exceeded its workload for 1998 by more than 50 percent. There is no reason to expect that this workload will be reduced any time soon. If the requested funding is not provided, difficult decisions will be required concerning what staff activities can and should be funded. We hope that the Subcommittee will not force the Joint Committee to make these Congress of the United States JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION Mashington, DC 20515-6453 Honorable Charles H. Taylor Page 11 Mr. Chairman, I recognize fully the budgetary constraints that make your work so difficult. At the same time, I hope that you will appreciate the important role the Joint Committee on Taxation plays in the analysis and development of tax legislation. I firmly believe that the nonpartisan technical tax experts on the Joint Committee staff provide a service to the Congress that is not and cannot be duplicated by any other Congressional office. I respectfully urge the Members of the Subcommittee to respond favorably to the Joint Committee's funding request for fiscal year 2001. ATTACHMENT: 1900 Tax-Related Legislative Reports Worked on by the Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation A. Tax Committes Report Explanations P.R. 4.6 Federal Retirement Coverage Corrections Act of 1900), 4. Rect 29 House Ways and Means Committee report in rectification of certain retirement coverage errors affecting Federal employees.) PR. 434 African Growth and Opportunity Act). H. Reat. 106-19 Part 2 E.R. 1375 Tax Relief for Individuals Performing Services in Yugoslavia. H.R. 2488 Financial Freedom Act of 1999). H. Rept. 106-238. House and Means Committee report on the bill to Provide for Reconciliation Pur Sections 105 and 211 of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fsc 2000) H.R. 2923 Extension of Expiring Provisions and Other Time-sensitive Provisions). H. Rept. 106-344. (House Ways and Means Committee reper the bill to extend expiring provisions, to allow fully the nonrefundacie per credits against regular tax liability.) H.R. 3081 (Wage and Employment Growth Act of 1999). H. Rept. 106-4 (House Ways and Means Committee report on the bill.) 7. $.331 (Budget Effects of S. 331). S. Rept. 106-37. (Senate Finance reper Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999.) 8. 9. $. 1134 (Affordable Education Act of 1999). S. Rept. 106-54. (Senate Fi Committee Report on a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 a tax-free expenditures from education individual retirement accounts for elementary and secondary school expenses, and to increase the maximum amount of contributions to such accounts.) S. 1386 (Trade Adjustment Assistant Reauthorization Act). S. Rept. 106-1 (Senate Finance Committee Report on a bill to reauthorize existing trade |