Keepers of ‘the score’ could decide whether tax reform lives or dies

Whether tax reform lives or dies could come down to “the score” from a powerful but little-known team of number cruncher s on Capitol Hill.

 
As Congress’s nonpartisan scorekeeper on tax matters, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) takes no stance on whether a revamped tax code should raise more revenue for deficit reduction, how low rates should be, or whether the deductions for mortgage interest and charitable donations should be on the chopping block.
 
But they would provide the only official projection of how a tax reform bill would affect the country’s bottom line — just as they did when Washington last reworked the nation’s tax laws in 1986.
 
That makes their input crucial — and potentially frustrating — to House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), both of whom have told colleagues they plan to move forward with a comprehensive tax revamp this fall.
 

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/317489-keepers... 

Did you know about this group?  If not, check them out:

The Joint Committee on Taxation is a nonpartisan committee of the United States Congress, originally established under the Revenue Act of 1926. The Joint Committee operates with an experienced professional staff of Ph.D economists, attorneys, and accountants, who assist Members of the majority and minority parties in both houses of Congress on tax legislation.

The Joint Committee is chaired on a rotating basis by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. During the first Session of each Congress the House has the Chair and the Senate has the vice-chair; during the second session the roles are reversed.

The Joint Committee Staff is closely involved with every aspect of the tax legislative process, including:

• Assisting Congressional tax-writing committees and Members of Congress with development and analysis of legislative proposals;
• Preparing official revenue estimates of all tax legislation considered by the Congress;
• Drafting legislative histories for tax-related bills; and
• Investigating various aspects of the Federal tax system.

The Joint Committee Staff interacts with Members of Congress, Members of the tax-writing committees, and their staff on a confidential basis and enjoys a high-level of trust from both sides of the political aisle and in both houses of Congress. Because the Joint Committee Staff is independent, tax-focused, and involved in all stages of the tax legislative process, the staff is able to ensure consistency as tax bills move through committees to the floor of each chamber, and to a House-Senate conference committee.

(unelected, yet they are involved in our taxes?)

This is the latest report on their website: A review of tax laws from 2012.

s-2-13.pdf

Where is the JCT produced  568-page report detailing the findings of 11 Ways and Means working groups mentioned in the Hill article?  Don't we have a right to see it too?