The fate of tax reform in the 113th Congress may depend upon the
nature of the agreement by members of both political parties
regarding the long-term deficit.
Although some commentators have expressed optimism that reform
will occur within the next 12 to 18 months, especially with both
chairs of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means
Committee stepping down at the end of the current Congress, neither
party has agreed on what steps should be taken to address the
long-term deficit.
Republicans have insisted on exclusively using spending cuts to
address the country's fiscal issues, while Democrats have
insisted on spending cuts and additional revenue. If Congress and
the White House can agree on how to reduce the deficit, "they
can slide in tax reform under that," said Mark Mazur, Treasury
assistant secretary for tax policy, on May 10. The Obama
administration, Mazur said, might be flexible in determining how
much revenue should be used to come to a
