If “tax reform” is defined as base-broadening, ratereducing
changes that are neutral with respect to the
pre-existing revenue levels and distributional burdens of
taxation, then tax reform is a rare event in modern U.S.
history. While virtually every commission that looks at
tax reform suggests proposals along these lines—see, for
example, the Bowles-Simpson National Commission on
Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (2010), the Domenici-
Rivlin Debt Reduction Task Force (2010), and President
Bush’s tax reform commission (President’s Advisory
Panel 2005)—policy makers rarely follow through.
Indeed, only the Tax Reform Act (TRA) of 1986 would
qualify, among all legislative events in the last fifty
years. Representative Camp’s recent proposal would also
qualify, but of course it has not been enacted.