Sen. Orrin Hatch, the new chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says he wants the tax code reformed because it is so complicated he can't do his own taxes anymore.
In an interview on Fox News Channel's
"On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" aired Thursday, the Utah Repubulican said reforming the tax code will be a big job.
"There are so many things that need to be changed that it's unbelievable. It's unworkable," he said. "If you put the code together it's 7-foot-tall with the regulations."
The rules are so convoluted that two professional tax preparers are unlikely to file complicated returns the same way, he said.
"That's pathetic when you stop the and think about it. We have got to simplify that code and do a number of other things as well," he said.
Hatch said he would prefer a "cash-flow" system. "So, if you buy something as a businessman, you can deduct that in the year that you bought it. And make it much more simple, much more workable."
He said he'd also like to see more taxpayers added to the roles.
"Right now, you can make a case that over 50 percent, really approaching 60 percent, of the American people do not pay any taxes. And a high percentage of them are living off the government," he said. "And that's what our more liberal philosophy has done for us in this country."
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