TEI Offers Assistance on Tennessee Tax Reform Proposals.

On April 1, 1999, Tax Executives Institute submitted the following comments to Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist concerning tax reform proposals being considered by the Tennessee legislature. Similar letters were sent to members of Tennessee's legislature.

On behalf of Tax Executives Institute, I am writing concerning the tax reform proposals currently under consideration by the legislature.

Tax Executives Institute (TEI) is the preeminent association of business tax executives in North America. Our more than 5,000 members represent 2,800 of the leading corporations in the United States and Canada. 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.

TEI has 52 chapters throughout the United States, Canada, and in Europe, one of which is located in the State of Tennessee. The Institute is a volunteer professional organization, and our Nashville Chapter is managed entirely by volunteers who work in tax departments of the largest corporations and employers in the State and are responsible for ensuring their compliance with the tax laws. Like the Institute itself, our Tennessee members are firmly committed to maintaining a tax system that works--one that is administrable and that taxpayers can comply with in a cost-efficient manner. Because many of our nonTennessee members work for companies with substantial operations or sales in the State, the Institute as a whole has a strong interest in Tennessee's having as favorable a business climate as possible.

TEI has been following with keen interest your recent tax reform proposals as well as the reactions to those proposals by leaders of the legislature and others. As you are aware, some commentators have suggested that certain proposals might have a negative economic effect on the State, for example...