Keep It Simple Will the feds succeed in untangling tax laws?

Is tax simplification in the cards? There's a lot of talk but little action. "Every time lawmakers try to simplify the code, tax laws just get more complicated," says Paul Gada, a tax analyst with CCH Business Owner's Toolkit, a division of Riverwoods, Illinois-based tax and business law information provider CCH Inc.

The latest development comes from the Bush administration, which announced that tax simplification will be an important part of its tax agenda. Also, Nina E. Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, recently concluded in a report to Congress that federal tax laws are too complex.