The tax code is 5,296 pages long and full of complicated details. We outlined a few of them in our recent column for the New York Times Magazine. So why hasn't Congress done anything to simplify the tax code? We posed the question to Alan D. Viard, a tax expert at the American Enterprise Institute. His response is below.

What reforms will revive the FEHBP and improve Medicare?

This careful analysis of Medicare and the FEHBP is an invaluable guide for policymakers considering major health reforms while juggling the twin problems of runaway health care spending and looming Medicare insolvency.

The value-added tax is an old idea in tax policy that, despite periodic consideration, has not been adopted in the United States.

Alan D. Viard discusses the complications posed by the needless complexity of tax incentives, income-based phase-outs, and the alternative minimum tax.

Health savings accounts (HSAs), which were created by the Medicare legislation recently passed by Congress, allow individuals to save for their future health care needs on a tax-preferred basis. HSAs are available to anyone who purchases high-deductible health insurance, and employers may also make tax-free contributions. Will HSAs become an...

Base broadening must be approached with caution because some base-broadening measures make the tax system less neutral, impeding economic efficiency. Also, income tax base broadening cannot eliminate, and may even reinforce, the income tax's central flaw--its penalty on saving.

Twenty-five changes to personal and business income taxes could improve the simplicity, efficiency, and fairness of the income tax system.