Make Tax Day Savings Day

With this year’s tax deadline almost here, a bipartisan group of House members will call on the I.R.S. to make a simple change to the federal tax forms that would make it easier for Americans to save.

This change, which President Bush has requested in the budget for the past two years, would allow taxpayers to “split” their refund between their savings and checking accounts. In pilot programs, this common-sense change has prompted taxpayers to put aside as much as half of their refunds into savings. With national savings rates at historic lows, these House members believe that government should be doing everything it can to promote personal savings and help Americans build financial security.

Participants

• Jim Cooper
  (D-TN), U.S. House of Representatives
• Phil English
  (R-PA), U.S. House of Representatives
• Harold E. Ford Jr.
  (D-TN), U.S. House of Representatives
• Tom Petri
  (R-WI), U.S. House of Representatives
• Fred T. Goldberg, Jr.
  Attorney, Skadden, Arps; Former IRS Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, George H.W. Bush Administration
• Ray Boshara
  Director, Asset Building Program, New America Foundation