Radical tax simplification: The impossible dream?

Almost everyone thinks the tax system should be simpler, but almost every year it gets more complicated. Does it have to be that way? There is massive potential for simplification, but it comes at a cost: reduced flexibility for families and businesses to use the tax code to meet their specific needs.

On March 19, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Co-Director William Gale reviewed issues with tax simplification and analyzed four major revenue-neutral proposals for federal income tax reforms, each of which would create a simpler and more progressive system. The event featured a demonstration of a new page on the Tax Policy Center website that allows anyone to compare their filing requirements and tax burdens under the current system as well as the proposed alternatives. A panel followed, featuring Ariel Greenblum (Tax Notes), Margot Crandall-Hollick (Urban Institute), and Natasha Sarin (Budget Lab at Yale), moderated by Wall Street Journal Reporter Richard Rubin.

Viewers joined the conversation and asked questions of the speakers by emailing [email protected] or on X/Twitter using the hashtag #TaxSimplification.

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