Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI), Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, today announced that they will convene a joint hearing of their two committees to examine the tax treatment of financial products.  The hearing, titled “Tax Reform and the Tax Treatment of Financial Products,” will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 6 in Room HVC-210 of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. 

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only.  However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committees and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.  A list of invited witnesses will follow.

BACKGROUND:
At the March 15, 2011 organizational meeting of the Joint Committee on Taxation, Chairman Camp and Chairman Baucus – in their capacities as JCT Chair and Vice Chair, respectively –directed JCT staff to analyze the tax treatment of financial products.  The JCT report will be formally presented at the joint hearing. 

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing, which continues both committees’ work on tax reform, will examine the complex relationship between the tax code and financial products.  The committees will consider how Congress should respond to the potentially inconsistent tax treatment of economically similar financial products, so that such products are structured to meet economic and business purposes rather than to meet tax planning objectives.  The hearing will also focus on how well the tax code has responded to the evolving financial products market and how tax reform can help the Congress and Treasury stay informed of, and keep pace with, that evolution.

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Please Note: Any person(s) and/or organization(s) wishing to submit written comments for the hearing record must follow the appropriate link on the hearing page of the Committee website and complete the informational forms.  From the Committee homepage, https://waysandmeans.house.gov, select “Hearings.”  Select the hearing for which you would like to submit, and click on the link entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.”  Once you have followed the online instructions, submit all requested information.  ATTACH your submission as a Word document, in compliance with the formatting requirements listed below, by the close of business on Tuesday, December 20, 2011.  Finally, please note that due to the change in House mail policy, the U.S. Capitol Police will refuse sealed-package deliveries to all House Office Buildings.  For questions, or if you encounter technical problems, please call (202) 225-3625 or (202) 225-2610.


FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
The Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.  As always, submissions will be included in the record according to the discretion of the Committee.  The Committee will not alter the content of your submission, but we reserve the right to format it according to our guidelines.  Any submission provided to the Committee by a witness, any supplementary materials submitted for the printed record, and any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below.  Any submission or supplementary item not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1. All submissions and supplementary materials must be provided in Word or WordPerfect format and MUST NOT exceed a total of 10 pages, including attachments. Witnesses and submitters are advised that the Committee relies on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased.  All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3. All submissions must include a list of all clients, persons and/or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.  A supplemental sheet must accompany each submission listing the name, company, address, telephone, and fax numbers of each witness.

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities.  If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested).  Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.

Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.waysandmeans.house.gov/.