ATR President Grover Norquist today sent the following letter to Congressman Bob Goodlatte:

  Dear Congressman Goodlatte:

On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform, I am very proud to endorse your bill, H.R. 462, the “Tax Code Termination Act”. This bill would be a magnificent step in making the U.S. tax code more transparent, fair, and effective. It becomes clearer each day that the Tax Code of the United States is far too complicated. The code already runs 65,000 to 70,000 pages long and takes an army of federal workers to enforce. The code incorporates unreasonably high rates with thousands of loopholes, deductions, and credits that distort behavior and lead to an unfair and unbalanced system of taxation. The system needs to change to a simpler system that doesn’t leave taxpayers sending more money to the federal government.

The Tax Code Termination Act would completely do away with the current tax code and call for a new tax code to be implemented in its place with very specific guidelines. These guidelines include main goals of applying lower rates to all Americans in a fair way that seeks to eliminate abuse and disincentives to families and savings. The goal of this legislation is to create a simple and fair system where the government does not pick winners or losers and encourages economic growth; all while ensuring a simpler and lower tax burden on American taxpayers.

Furthermore, the bill calls for the switch in tax codes to occur by 2016 with a mandate to create the new code in accordance with the specific guidelines to be implemented by, appropriately, July 4, 2015. With specific fair and pro-growth changes being made to the all too convoluted tax system in a concrete timetable, the Tax Code Termination Act is a colossal victory for the American economy and American taxpayers.

Building on previously introduced “Scrap the Code” legislation, it is my pleasure to endorse Congressman Goodlatte’s Tax Code Termination Act. For countless reasons, the need for a change is not only appropriate but desperately needed. This legislation is key to improving the tax system in this country while putting the American taxpayers and economy ahead of special interests. I applaud the efforts of Congressman Goodlatte in his fight to introduce commonsense reforms to the U.S. tax code on behalf of American taxpayers.

Sincerely,

Grover Norquist