Charles Boustany Conducts Hearing on IRS Practices and the 2011 Filing Season

Washington, DC – U.S. Congressman Charles W. Boustany, Jr., MD (R-Southwest Louisiana) today held a Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight hearing to discuss the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the 2011 Tax Return Filing Season. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman was on hand to testify. “Charged with administering this growing tax code, the IRS must simultaneously respect the rights of taxpayers, provide assistance to the millions of taxpayers who have questions about their taxes, and go after those who seek to cheat the tax system,” Boustany said in his opening statement. “The IRS’s dual mission of both revenue collector and social policy program administrator diverts IRS resources from its core mission and can diminish taxpayer service.

Among the biggest contributors to this problem is the new health care law, which gives IRS a host of new responsibilities, including the indoor tanning tax, new taxes and fees on employers and individuals, and a complex small business tax credit.”

Boustany indicated the committee’s desire to work on ways to reform the tax code. When asked if he felt the tax code was too complex, Commissioner Shuman responded, “Yes, it has become incredibly complex.”

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Boustany plans to hold several hearings to look into government waste and spending in federal agencies.

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Boustany Opening Statement: Hearing on Internal Revenue Service Operations and the 2011 Tax Return Filing Season

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Good morning. I would like to welcome everyone to today’s hearing on the Internal Revenue Service and the 2011 Tax Return Filing Season.

Today’s conversation about the IRS should begin with a topic too often ignored: the taxpayer. The National Taxpayer Advocate’s recent report to Congress provided some alarming facts on what the federal tax code has become, and how it affects the average taxpayer.

Every year, taxpayers face a tax code of growing complexity. For instance, there have been nearly 5,000 changes to the tax code in the past ten years. Between the period of 1975 and 2005, the code tripled in size. As a result of the growing length and complexity of the tax code, individual taxpayers and businesses spend an estimated 6.1 billion hours and $163 billion every single year simply complying with tax-filing requirements. The cost of compliance for your average individual taxpayer was over $250 in 2007.

As we meet today, we are in the middle of the 2011 tax return filing season and millions of individuals and businesses are working to meet their annual tax return filing obligations. As of March 18, IRS had processed over 73 million individual tax returns and issued nearly 65 million refunds totaling $193 billion. With two and a half weeks to go until the April 18 filing deadline, the Subcommittee looks forward to hearing more about the ongoing tax return season and any problems the agency and tax return filers might be encountering. The Subcommittee would also like to learn more about efforts the IRS has undertaken to improve the efficient processing of returns and refunds, including its e-filing modernization program.

Charged with administering this growing tax code, the IRS must simultaneously respect the rights of taxpayers, provide assistance to the millions of taxpayers who have questions about their taxes, and go after those who seek to cheat the tax system.

And the agency has to do this against a backdrop of ever increasing responsibilities to administer social policy programs. The IRS’s dual mission of both revenue collector and social policy program administrator diverts IRS resources from its core mission and can diminish taxpayer service. Among the biggest contributors to this problem is the new health care law, which gives IRS a host of new responsibilities, including the indoor tanning tax, new taxes and fees on employers and individuals, and a complex small business tax credit.

For FY 2012, the IRS has requested nearly $6 billion dollars, an increase of more than 8 percent from the FY 2010 appropriation. Included in this $6 billion is a request for nearly half a billion dollars, and over 1,200 new employees, to implement the health care law’s provisions. And the costs of the health care law do not end there. IRS’s implementation of the health care law is estimated to cost between $5 and $10 billion over the next ten years. So in addition to the current tax return filing season and the IRS budget request, I hope we can take this opportunity to discuss this dual mission and whether it hampers IRS’s core revenue collection responsibilities.

With that, I would like to welcome Commissioner Douglas Shulman here today, and I look forward to a fruitful discussion of his agency, its mission, and the ongoing tax return filing season.

I am now pleased to yield to our Ranking Member, Mr. Lewis.

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TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Congressman Charles Boustany Washington, DC Office 1431 Longworth House Office Bldg Washington, DC 20515-1807 Phone: (202) 225-2031 Fax: (202) 225-5724

TEXT CREDIT: House Committee on Ways & Means 1101 Longworth HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone (202) 225-3625 Fax (202) 225-2610

Charles.Boustany Introduces 'Realize America's Maritime Promise Act'

Washington, D.C.– U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr., R-Southwest Louisiana, yesterday introduced the Realize America’s Maritime Promise (RAMP) Act. This legislation will ensure that funds designated for dredging projects in America’s harbors and ports will be used solely for this purpose. “Dredging federally maintained waters to their authorized levels is crucial for Louisiana and the American economy,”said Boustany. “For too long, Congress used the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to disguise the federal deficit, limiting the fund’s ability to address real problems along many of the waterways important to trade, commerce and jobs.

These waterways create thousands of jobs throughout the Gulf Coast region, but chronically underfunded dredging imperils those jobs and commerce each year.”

The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund currently has a balance of approximately $5.1 billion, yet this funding is not being used to address the backlog of necessary maintenance dredging needed to sustain vital infrastructure. Failure to maintain these harbors and ports impacts regional and national commerce, reduces America’s economic competitiveness, and increases the risk of vessel groundings, collisions, and pollution incidents. “During this time of economic turmoil, we cannot afford to threaten these water highways that are so important to our nation’s commerce,” Boustany said.

The bill is cosponsored by 26 bipartisan, nationwide Members of Congress who understand the importance of adequately maintaining the nation’s ports and waterways.

Funds from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund are also used to rebuild wetlands by way of beneficial use of dredged material projects. Congressman Boustany has worked tirelessly in Congress to protect Louisiana’s coast and has been at the forefront of the fight to ensure that Louisiana harbors are adequately maintained. ###

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: Congressman Charles Boustany Washington, DC Office 1431 Longworth House Office Bldg Washington, DC 20515-1807 Phone: (202) 225-2031 Fax: (202) 225-5724

Congressman Charles Boustany Weekly Republican Address 05/16/09 VIDEO TEXT

TEXT TRANSCRIPT: Remarks by Charles W. Boustany, Jr., MD, (R-Southwest Louisiana) today delivered the weekly Republican Address, urging Congress and the President to work to achieve commonsense solutions to lower the cost of healthcare while ensuring quality and access.

Hello, I’m Charles Boustany, a doctor and member of the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group.

We all know that in this troubled economy, American families are increasingly worried about their healthcare. In my home of Louisiana, I hear constantly from families and small businesses about rising costs and fears of losing coverage, and as a physician I saw this first-hand.

Let me be clear, Republicans want to work with President Obama and other Democrats to ensure that every American has access to affordable, high-quality health coverage.

Despite our differences on some important healthcare-related issues, we are convinced there are areas offering potential for common ground on healthcare reform among the two parties.

We believe we must make quality healthcare coverage affordable and accessible for every American, regardless of preexisting health conditions.

President Obama has called for a plan that "puts us on a clear path to cover all Americans," and said "no American should be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions."

Republicans agree.

We believe healthcare reform must let Americans who like their healthcare coverage keep it, and give all Americans the freedom to choose the healthcare plan that best meets their families’ needs.

The president has said Americans "should have the option of keeping their employer-based health plan," and said reform "should provide Americans a choice of health plans and physicians."

Republicans agree.

We believe healthcare reform must improve Americans’ lives through effective prevention, wellness and disease management programs, while developing new treatments and cures for life-threatening diseases, and respecting the value of human life. The president has said healthcare reform must address "cost drivers" in our system such as "obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and smoking."

Republicans agree.

We believe it is possible -- and necessary -- to achieve these objectives through common-sense reforms without raising taxes, rationing care, eliminating employer-sponsored health benefits for working families, empowering government bureaucrats at the expense of patients and doctors, or adding even more to our ever-growing national debt.

At the same time, Republicans are concerned about news reports indicating that some Democrats favor a policy called a "government" or "public" option. We need to be clear about what this means.

From my former practice, I know allowing the government to replace the health coverage that more than 100 million Americans currently have through their jobs could have devastating consequences.

A government takeover of healthcare will put bureaucrats in charge of healthcare decisions that should be made by families and doctors. It will limit treatment options and lead to rationed care.

And to pay for government healthcare, your taxes will be raised. That is something we cannot support, and frankly, it would clearly violate some of the principles the president himself has endorsed.

That having been said, I want to reiterate Republicans’ sincere desire to work with President Obama and Democrats to find common ground on the issue of healthcare reform. Despite our differences, we are convinced there are areas of common-sense agreement on healthcare reform among Republicans and Democrats.

This issue is just too important to let partisanship or blind ideology get in the way. Let’s all work together to do the right thing for the American people. Thank you for listening. ###