The Joint Committee on Taxation is a nonpartisan committee of the United States Congress, originally established under the Revenue Act of 1926. The Joint Committee operates with an experienced professional staff of Ph.D economists, attorneys, and accountants, who assist Members of the majority and minority parties in both houses of Congress on tax legislation.

The Joint Committee is chaired on a rotating basis by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. During the first Session of each Congress the House has the Chair and the Senate has the vice-chair; during the second session the roles are reversed.

The Joint Committee Staff is closely involved with every aspect of the tax legislative process, including:

Assisting Congressional tax-writing committees and Members of Congress with development and analysis of legislative proposals;
Preparing official revenue estimates of all tax legislation considered by the Congress;
Drafting legislative histories for tax-related bills; and
Investigating various aspects of the Federal tax system.

The Joint Committee Staff interacts with Members of Congress, Members of the tax-writing committees, and their staff on a confidential basis and enjoys a high-level of trust from both sides of the political aisle and in both houses of Congress. Because the Joint Committee Staff is independent, tax-focused, and involved in all stages of the tax legislative process, the staff is able to ensure consistency as tax bills move through committees to the floor of each chamber, and to a House-Senate conference committee.

The Joint Committee is established under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.1 The Joint Committee formally consists of ten Members of Congress: five from the Senate Committee on Finance (there are three from the majority and two from the minority); and five Members from the House Committee on Ways and Means (also three from majority and two from the minority).

The statutorily prescribed duties of the Joint Committee are:

To investigate the operation and effects of internal revenue taxes and the administration of such taxes;
To investigate measures and methods for the simplification of such taxes;
To make reports to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance (or to the House and the Senate) on the results of such investigations and studies and to make recommendations;2 and
To review any proposed refund or credit of income or estate and gift taxes or certain other taxes set forth in Code section 6405 in excess of $2,000,000.3
Under Internal Revenue Code section 8021, the Joint Committee is empowered to:

Obtain and inspect tax returns and return information (as specified in sec. 6103(f));
Hold hearings, require attendance of witnesses and production of books, administer oaths, and take testimony;
Procure printing and binding;
Make necessary expenditures. In addition, section 8023 authorizes the Joint Committee (or the Chief of Staff), upon approval of the Chairman or Vice-Chairman, to secure tax returns, tax return information or data directly from the IRS or any other executive agency for the purpose of making investigations, reports, and studies relating to internal revenue tax matters, including investigations of the IRS’s administration of the tax laws.

In addition to these functions that are specified in the Internal Revenue Code, the Congressional Budget Act of 19744 requires the Joint Committee to provide revenue estimates for all tax legislation considered by either the House or the Senate. Such estimates are the official Congressional estimates for reported tax legislation.

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