Treasury Aide Says Tax Code Revision Won't Alter Revenue or Narrow Deficits
WASHINGTON -- Treasury Department aides drawing up plans for overhauling the Tax Code don't view their job in terms of reducing the federal budget deficit, a top official said.</br></br>Although President Reagan's call for a Treasury Department study of the tax system was made in the context of the deficit issue, it isn't correct to view it as a means of raising revenue, said John Chapoton, assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy. The idea, said Mr. Chapoton, who is directing the study, is "wholesale reform" of the Tax Code, and the department will seek to structure the changes to keep federal revenue at about the same level.</br></br>Previous administration statements, including those of President Reagan, have said an overhaul of the tax system might produce money from sources that escape taxes today.</br></br>Treasury Secretary Donald Regan said recently that it would be "serendipitous" if higher revenue flowed into government coffers from a revised tax system.</br></br>In an interview with a group of reporters, Mr. Chapoton went even further yesterday, stating that he and his subordinates understand their mission is to fashion a "revenue-neutral" proposal -- one in which receipts are neither higher nor lower than the current system. If the White House decides that more revenue is needed to narrow the deficit, which is projected at about $200 billion a year for the next several years, it can raise tax rates or propose other measures, Mr. Chapoton said.