Tax Reform

Publisher Steve Forbes made tax reform a key campaign issue before he quit the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Forbes proposed replacing the federal income tax system with a single-rate “flat tax.” Forbes and other flat-tax advocates say an across-the-board tax would eliminate tax loopholes, stimulate the economy and take the frustration out of filing returns. Other reform advocates have called for a national sales tax or a European-style value-added tax. Although Congress and the White House have been bickering over less ambitious changes to the tax code, it is becoming increasingly likely that tax reform will be on the agenda in 1997, regardless of who wins the presidential election.