Gingrich Says GOP to Consider Tax Reform

WOODSTOCK, Ga. — House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Saturday that Republicans in Congress will consider replacing the federal income tax system with a national sales tax.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer (R-Tex.) is expected to hold hearings this summer on several Republican tax-reform plans, including one that calls for implementation of a flat tax, Gingrich said at a town hall meeting here.

“Congressman Archer shocked me the other day because he said he is actually prepared, as the chairman of the Ways and Means, to seriously consider eliminating the income tax and going to a modified sales tax,” Gingrich said.

“As soon as we get through with the ‘contract with America,’ it would be his intention to hold hearings. He frankly favors replacing the entire income tax with a consumption tax.”