TAX REVISION MILESTONES

August 1982: Democratic Sen. Bill Bradley and Rep. Richard Gephardt introduce their Fair Tax Act. January 1984: President Reagan calls for a Treasury study of tax overhaul. April 1984: Republican Rep. Jack Kemp and Sen. Bob Kasten introduce their own tax revision plan. November1984: Treasury Secretary Donald Regan unveils Treasury I. May 1985: President Reagan endorses a new package, dubbed Treasury II, which was prepared by Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III and Deputy Treasury Secretary Richard Darman. November 1985: The House Ways and Means Committee sends to the House floor its tax overhaul bill, which has a top individual tax rate of 38% and hits corporations harder than the Administration plan. December 1985: The Ways and Means bill, after a chaotic week in which it was first blocked by House Republicans and then rescued by a Reagan pilgrimage to Capitol Hill, passes the House on a voice vote. April 1986: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bob Packwood, after being forced to abandon his own package because it becomes burdened with too many special-interest amendments, unveils another plan with a nominal top individual tax bracket of 27% that drastically pares tax shelters, IRAs, and consumer interest deductions. June 1986: The Senate, on a 97-3 vote, approves the committee package nearly intact. August 1986: After a series of snags, the 22 lawmakers on a House-Senate conference committee approve a compromise bill with a top rate of 28%.