4 Highlights of the Joint Statement on Tax Reform

With healthcare reform off the table for now, Congress is turning its attention to the second major type of legislation planned for 2017: tax reform. To that end, the White House and House of Representatives have issued a joint statement discussing their highest tax-related priorities.

Here are four highlights from the joint statement that you should know about, keeping in mind that these ideas may or may not make their way into the tax code.

Rather than go into specifics, the joint statement discusses the goals that the White House and Congress hope to achieve through tax reform. The statement repeatedly refers to the existing tax code as "broken" and touches on the subjects of tax relief for families; lower tax rates for businesses, especially small businesses; encouraging American corporations to bring money they're hoarding overseas back to the U.S., thus spurring job production and economic growth; and making permanent tax breaks, rather than temporary ones such as tax breaks with predetermined expiration dates.

Source: Fool.com