The heads of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform announced that both of the panel's meetings scheduled for September will be postponed indefinitely.
"There is mutual agreement among the chair, vice-chair, panel members, Treasury Department and the White House to postpone our two upcoming meetings," said the panel's executive director, Jeffrey Kupfer, in a statement. "In addition, we are having ongoing discussions to determine when the panel's final report will be delivered to the Treasury secretary."
Fallout from Hurricane Katrina was the main reason behind the delay. Vice chairman John Breaux, a former U.S. Senator for Louisiana, has been particularly involved in clean-up efforts; also, the panel relied on the U.S. Department of Treasury for running any proposal estimates, and the department is now working to provide relief guidance to taxpayers affected by the hurricane.
Established by President Bush in January, the bipartisan panel had been slated to meet on Sept. 8 and 15, before submitting reforms to the tax code by Sept. 30 aimed at making the country's tax system simpler, fairer and more oriented to economic growth. The panel, chaired by former Senator Connie Mack, was also instructed to keep any proposals revenue-neutral.
The meetings will be rescheduled and announced at a later date.
