Paul Ryan Quotes

There are some tax expenditures that are there for very obvious and very important and very good policy reasons. Whether it's the charitable deduction or the deduction for homes, it's not a loophole.

The American people do not have to be bribed by the tax code to make charitable contributions.

There is spending in the tax code.

That’s why the tax code is so long [76,000 pages]. So we can take advantage of it.

I think we can have some tax reform, but that doesn't mean tax increases. We ought to make the, the rates flatter. We ought to get rid of a bunch of those loopholes.

Everyone now has a sacred cow in the tax code. For my money, the most sacred thing of all is our country and its growth, but the sacred cows have turned into a pack of wolves.

What I want to do is make certain that no one's taxes go up. Let's look at cleaning up the tax code.

Tax expenditures for middle- and working-class Americans - like the earned income tax credit - aren't thought of as loopholes; they're just thought of as benefits.

Everybody gets ticked off about GE paying no taxes. Look, we have a complicated, convoluted tax system. And only big corporations and wealthy individuals like Warren Buffett can take advantage of it. We need to simplify and flatten the code, get rid of all the loopholes.

The first 9 pages of the Internal Revenue Code define income; the remaining 1,100 pages spin the web of exceptions and preferences.

It’s not easy to get rid of tax loopholes. The reason they are there is that people wanted them there.

We have a tax code that favors debt over equity.

Over the years, the tax code has become a vehicle for political favoritism and social engineering.

Many tax experts say a key element to any fundamental overhaul is getting rid of certain deductions for businesses - the 'special-interest giveaways that are masked as tax breaks,' as House Republicans describe many of them in their own proposal.

The tax code gives you an enormous advantage if you can find some things you can just sit with.

Cuttin' taxes for strippers and thugs.

Everyone wants a more simple tax system. But if this means that certain tax breaks have to be cut, people are no longer so enthusiastic.

We ought to thank President Bush. He made it a lot easier for people to do taxes this year. No job, no income tax this year.

I understand the tax code better than anybody that's ever run for president.

A Tax Loophole: A deduction that the other guy gets.

In fact, the best thing we could do on taxes for all Americans is to simplify the individual tax code. This will be a tough job, but members of both parties have expressed an interest in doing this, and I am prepared to join them.

By keeping most tax rates at present levels, Obama and the Democrats will claim that they have championed tax cuts for the middle class.

The bottom line is we need a tax code that is more simpler, that is more fairer, that gets rid of the special carve-outs, the special lobbyist loopholes. That's the direction we need to go.

I'm for tax reform, not tax increases.

A one-time tax does not get figured into people's investment decisions.