House Speaker Paul Ryan says corporate tax reform is an achievable goal for Congress in 2016.
In an extensive interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday, Ryan said a sliver of tax reform is still possible by next year, even as the presidential election season heats up.
“I would love to see that done in 2016,” Ryan, the former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told Bloomberg’s Mark Halperin. “I was working on that while I was chair, I still think that that’s something that’s in the cards, particularly given the big trend of inversions that we see happening and corporate takeovers.”
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Ryan, R-Wis., said “it would be a good idea” if corporate tax reform could happen earlier than broader tax reform, which Republicans believe is possible only if they win the White House in 2016 and maintain control of both the House and Senate.
Ryan said that while an overall GOP tax reform plan is in the works in both the House and Senate, the party is “getting to a consensus on how to reform our international tax code, to get to a system that is like the rest of the world, so that you can bring money back from overseas without paying a big penalty.”
Ryan is hoping to end the current trend of U.S. companies moving their headquarters overseas through foreign takeovers or “inversions,” which are maneuvers in which U.S. businesses merge with companies in low-tax jurisdictions and then place the headquarters of the combined company in that country.
Ryan said “everything is on the table” for overall tax reform, including a flat tax, which he said is his “preference,” and the elimination of tax loopholes like the mortgage tax deduction and charitable deductions.
“It means lower rates, broader base,” Ryan said. “That means fewer loopholes and deductions.”
Ryan said he won’t use his role as House speaker or his expertise in tax policy to dictate the GOP’s tax plan.
“It can’t just be a Paul Ryan tax reform plan,” Ryan said. “It has to be the Republican tax reform plan by the Republican Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.”
