Congress Needs to Address Tax Issues Now not Later

At a time when we face unprecedented problems with the economy and it's management in this country Congress must, if they are to face up to their obligations, address the issue of taxes and tax reductions. It's time now, not after the elections, for legislators to decide if tax reductions will be extended and to finish up the numerous bills that are lying in limbo due to the gridlock that has prevailed during this legislative session.

As a tax professional it always disturbs me every year to watch the circus that tax legislation has become in the Senate and Congress. The far reaching effects and the cost of uncertainty that takes place each year are a hidden drag on our economy and they rise to the level of a national threat to our economic survival in these perilous times.

And while this problem has been ongoing for several years this year provides the "perfect storm" those of us in the accounting industry have feared for some time.

We face the convergence of what is still, in real terms, a depression in most sectors of the economy and a growth in regulation of unimagined proportions. With reams of new regulations and hundreds if not thousands of new regulators added to a system already out of control it will be impossible to escape the damage done to businesses both big and small.

When you take away the ability for businesses and individuals to plan in an orderly way for investments and equipment purchases as well as confuse the important issues of business succession and estate planning you produce a business climate that is hamstrung by indecision and over run with a mountain of costly paperwork.

Just addressing the new requirements for businesses to issue 1099's to their local Wal-Mart, Office Depot, BestBuy, and most of the other businesses they deal with, will increase costs and produce a definite drag on productivity while providing no real benefits to anyone.

Now throw in the big issues, like health care reform, and a banking industry that is failing to provide business funding and you quickly see a system that will be pushed to the limit to handle everything and survive.

So it's time we tell our legislators that we want something done and done now not later.

In a land founded by brave men and women who placed their honor, their fortunes, and even their lives at risk it is a national disgrace to be run by the cowards now taking up space in Washington.