On Tax Day, Congressman Leonard Lance Calls the Tax System 'Too Complex'

Calling our tax system "too complex," (R-7) and local officials visited the Cranford Post Office the day before Tax Day to oppose new taxes proposed by President Barack Obama and to urge tax reform.

Standing in downtown Cranford on an unseasonably warm day, Lance greeted residents as they entered the post office, many of them carrying envelopes addressed to the IRS. With fewer than 24 hours to go before the official April 17 filing deadline for tax returns, the congressman criticized Obama's proposed budget, which calls for "new taxes on earnings, dividends and savings for many New Jersey family households and small businesses."

Lance is running for re-election in the 7th Legislative District. He was elected to his congressional seat in 2009. is part of the 7th District, but because of census redistricting, the township will be incorporated into the 6th District at the end of this year.

Woodbridge's new congressional representative will be Frank Pallone (D-6), who has held that seat since 1993.

Lance criticized the president's budget which includes the "Buffet Rule," a taxation plan Lance said Obama himself had called a "gimmick". The Buffet Rule would raise approximately $5 billion a year, or only enough to pay one week's interest on the national debt.

According to Lance, Americans spend billions of dollars each year trying to do their taxes.

"Our current system is too complex, too costly, and too burdensome," Lance said. "To comply with this inefficient tax code, individuals, families, and employers spend more than six billion hours and more than $160 billion per year trying to do their taxes. The U.S. House (of Representatives) has passed a reform plan that calls for a simpler, flatter, and fairer tax system that will restore economy opportunity and prosperity to our nation's economy."

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives approved a 2013 budget blueprint which includes tax reform proposals. The blueprint promotes saving by eliminating taxes on interest, capital gains, and dividends and also eliminates the death tax. Also, under the House-passed budget U.S. corporate rates would be reduced from 35 percent – currently the highest in the world – to 25 percent while nearly eliminating taxes on American corporations' earnings from overseas operations, making U.S. businesses and workers more competitive and encouraging reinvestment and economic growth right here at home.

Garwood Mayor Patricia Quattrocchi, who also attended the press conference, said the issues Lance has been speaking of are of the "utmost importance."

"Taxing small businesses pulls jobs our from local folks right here in New Jersey," Quattrocchi said.

Lance said that all of the Bush tax cuts that have been in effect since his administration are set to expire this year. The congressman and other local officials are lobbying for an extension of these reductions.

"The taxation system is a disaster, and at the end of the year, all of the Bush tax cuts will expire," said Jim Coyle, president of the Gateway Regional Chamber of Commerce, who also attended the Monday morning press conference in Cranford. "The economy is way too weak to have that kind of tax burden on it."

Lance, further criticizing Obama's budget plan, said that instead of "an election year gimmick that won't help the economy," lawmakers should be focusing on tax reform that promotes savings and investments to help bring about economic growth. 

"In an environment with trillion-dollar deficits and 8+ percent unemployment," Lance said, "growth is more important than ever."