Bush's tas reform commission is due to report November 1st, and a lot of ideas are floating up out of the deliberations. The Los Angeles Times has been reporting on them the last fiew days, and a few things stand out.
Today, they report on "the X Tax", which appears to be a revamped income tax on earned income only.
To the taxpayer, the proposed X tax might look a lot like an income tax with a blanket deduction for dividend and interest income, capital gains and other income from investments.The article goes on to talk about the various consumption taxes that are being considered.
Yesterday,they reported on ideas about limiting middle-class deductions, particularly the mortgage interest deduction.
The mortgage-interest deduction saved homeowners $61.5 billion last year. No one expects the commission to recommend its elimination.Well worth reading. And again, one wonders what the President's objectives are.Instead, the panel may consider scaling back the deduction for mortgage interest on second homes or home-equity loans, and changing the deduction for property taxes, among other things....
"Everything's on the table," said Charles Rossotti, a panel member who was commissioner of internal revenue from 1997 to 2002.
UPDATE: The NY Times has more. Who appointed these people? Oh. Right.