ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 14, 1995                   TAG: 9507140065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium


ROOTING OUT A TAXING SITUATION

House tax-writers will brainstorm alternatives to the income tax at an out-of-town closed-door retreat in early October, the chairman of the Ways andO Means Committee said Thursday.

Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, who advocates ``tearing the income tax out by its roots'' and replacing it with some form of sales tax, said both Democrats and Republicans would be invited.

Economists, think-tank officials and other experts will speak to the lawmakers at the session, scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 6 in Warrenton, Va., but it will be closed to reporters.

``The whole purpose of it is to cloister ourselves to where we can really spend an entire two days or 21/2 days without press,'' Archer said. ``We're going to evaluate alternatives to the current income tax system and spend the time dissecting all of them ... and hopefully putting ourselves in a position where we can make the right judgment when we finally do a bill'' sometime after this year.

Archer, who spoke at a forum of the Independent Institute, a California-based policy research organization, said he will not decide precisely what form of consumption tax he supports until after his committee's retreat.

He said eventually Republicans in the House would have to vote in caucus between his general approach and House Majority Leader Dick Armey's flat income tax, which would lower rates, eliminate taxation of individuals' investment income and eliminate credits and deductions.

Meanwhile, Armey, R-Texas, released a survey of 800 homeowners which showed that two-thirds would not mind losing their mortgage-interest deduction under a flat tax, provided the loss was offset by a corresponding reduction in tax rates.



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