AICPA to Congress: Short Circuit Tax Complexity Now.

• Position: American Institute of Certifed Public Accountants executive Pamela J. Pecarich - Brief Article

"Short circuit tax complexity now," Pamela J. Pecarich, chair of the Tax Executive Committee, told the Senate Finance Committee at a recent heating. "It's not that Americans don't want to obey the tax law," Pecarich said, "it's that they have limited time and resources to devote to complying with the rules." Pecarich noted that 2,116 tax law changes have occurred since 1995 and that the number of pages in the Internal Revenue Code and regulations has skyrocketed from 18,500 in 1984 to 45,662 in 2001.

Three objectives that Congress should use as a guide out of the tax complexity maze were conveyed to the committee:

* Fix longstanding structural problems in the tax system. In particular, focus simplification efforts on vague or highly technical provisions. The alternative minimum tax is an example of an area in the tax law that has become a structural problem.

* Focus on simplifying areas of the tax law that cause trouble...