FEDERALhearing transcript

Congressional Hearing on Simplifying Small Business Taxes

Original title: KEEP IT SIMPLE: SMALL BUSINESS TAX SIMPLIFICATION AND REFORM, THE COMMISSIONER RESPONDS

January 1, 2016

small business tax reform IRS tax compliance regulatory burden

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The Frame

What this does

Small businesses face an estimated tax of over $4,000 per employee annually, which impacts their ability to allocate resources toward growth and job creation.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Small business owners

They are responsible for navigating the tax code and bear the financial and time costs of compliance.

Internal Revenue Service

The agency is responsible for administering the tax code and promulgating the regulations discussed.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2016.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The House Committee on Small Business held a hearing on April 13, 2016, to discuss the administrative and legal complexities small business owners face when filing taxes. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen testified regarding the challenges of tax compliance and potential paths toward simplifying the tax code for small companies.

Key Facts

The hearing took place on April 13, 2016, two days before the federal tax filing deadline.
Small businesses with one to five employees face an estimated annual tax compliance burden of over $4,000 per employee.
The federal tax code consists of approximately 3,000 pages of law.
IRS regulations add at least 9,000 pages to the tax code.
When including case law, the total volume of tax-related documentation reaches approximately 70,000 pages.
The Committee's goal is to identify ways to simplify tax compliance to reduce the time and money small businesses spend on administrative tasks.

Why It Matters

Small businesses face an estimated tax of over $4,000 per employee annually, which impacts their ability to allocate resources toward growth and job creation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was this hearing held?

To address concerns from small business owners that the current tax code is too complex, which consumes significant time and financial resources.

What is the estimated cost for small businesses to comply with tax laws?

According to GAO testimony cited in the hearing, businesses with one to five employees spend over $4,000 per employee annually on tax compliance.

News Coverage

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Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Focus on Administrative Burden

The committee explicitly distinguishes between substantive tax law complexity and administrative compliance complexity as two separate hurdles for small businesses.

House Committee on Small Business Internal Revenue Service

Connected Entities

organizationHouse Committee on Small Business“Congressional committee overseeing small business policy”Map →

personJohn Koskinen“Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service”Map →

personNydia Velazquez“Ranking Member of the House Committee on Small Business”Map →

organizationInternal Revenue Service“Federal agency responsible for tax administration”Map →

personSteve Chabot“Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance65
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy20
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz15
Current news / social attention level

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