The need for more, not less, quicker, not slower tax guidance.

• Position: Tax Executives Institute

June 15, 2000

On June 15, 2000, Tax Executives Institute submitted the following letter to the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, on H.R. 1882, The Small Business Review Panel Technical Amendments Act. The legislation would affect the promulgation of regulations by federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service. The submission was prepared under the aegis of TEI's IRS Administrative Affairs Committee, whose chair is Robert J. McDonough, Jr. of the New England Chapter.

As the preeminent association of business tax executives in North America, Tax Executives Institute urges Congress to reject including the Internal Revenue Service within the provisions of H.R. 1882, the Small Business Review Panel Technical Amendments Act. After analyzing the legislation, TEI reluctantly concludes that it would adversely affect the rights and interests of taxpayers -- including those in the small business community whom the bill is intended to help. More specifically, including the IRS within the scope of H.R. 1882's proposed amendments to the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act would make government not more but less responsive to the needs of the taxpaying public and hence be counterproductive. Because they would do more harm than good, neither H.R. 1882 nor its Senate counterpart, S. 1156, should be enacted.

Background

Tax Executives Institute was founded in 1944 to provide a voice for the business tax professional -- not the practitioner but the in-house employee who must deal with the intricacies of the tax law and with employees of the Internal Revenue Service on almost a day-to-day basis. Our approximately 5,000 members represent 2,800 of the leading corporations through 52 chapters in the United States, Canada, and Europe. TEI represents a cross-section of the business community, and is dedicated to the development and effective implementation of sound tax policy, to promoting the uniform and equitable enforcement of the tax laws, and to reducing the cost and burden of administration and compliance to the benefit of taxpayers and government alike. To be sure, most members of the Institute work for companies that are too substantial to be referred to as "small business." Nevertheless, as a professional association, TEI is firmly committed to maintaining a tax system that works -- one that is administrable for all classes of taxpayers and that taxpayers can comply with in a cost-efficient...