Story highlights Orrin Hatch: Thirty-one years ago, Reagan signed the Tax Reform Act of 1986; it's long past time for new comprehensive tax reform

Senate, House, administration want to simplify tax code, give relief to low- and middle-income families, help businesses compete

Orrin Hatch is a US Senator from Utah and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) Thirty-one years ago this week, President Ronald Reagan signed the Tax Reform Act of 1986 into law. This date is particularly significant: It was the last time Congress and the president worked together to overhaul our tax code.

Orrin Hatch

The world today looks vastly different from the world in 1986. It is much more connected, globalized and driven by new technologies and the internet. But our tax code is stuck in the days where the Chicago Bears were winning the Super Bowl and "Top Gun" was number one at the box office.

A major impetus for the 1986 reform was the growing complexity of the US tax system. But now, after years of many piecemeal changes, our tax code has become even longer and more complex, requiring taxpayers to spend millions of hours and billions of dollars each year just to comply with the code and file accurate returns, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

In 1986, we reduced the number of individual income tax brackets from 15 down to five , ushering in the modern era of American tax policy. But in the 31 years since we last "modernized" our tax system, growth has slowed, wages have stagnated and our sluggish economy has left middle-class families behind. If we're going to help those taxpayers, new changes are necessary.

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We need a simpler tax code that puts more money back into the pockets of workers and families.