Welcome to the Tech Policy Podcast. I'm Evan Swartzropper. On today's show, how will tax reform impact tech?

We've heard a lot of talk about tax reform after a failed attempt by Republicans and the president to undo Obamacare and replace it.

And after that, we heard a lot in the news about how they're moving on to things

like tax reform and infrastructure. In tax reform, we haven't had a major overhaul of our code in

decades. And now there's kind of a cliche that it needs to happen every 36 years because it seems

like that's the only amount of time that leads to reform. So here we are, you know, kind of at that stage and

everyone's talking about it. So I've got a guest here to talk about what this big undertaking

will mean specifically for the tech companies and the tech issues that we talk about on this

show. So joining me is James Lucere, managing director at Capital Alpha Partners, a Washington,

D.C.-based policy research firm. James,

thanks for joining the show. Well, it's great to be here, Evan. It reminds me of those

thrilling days of yesteryear when I was a young man sitting in my ringside seat, actually in the

peanut gallery looking at tax reform in 1986 and thinking, wow, when I grow up, maybe I can have a rule

in tax reform too.

So here we are. It's been a long time. It only took 30 years and that's exciting.

You know, I think when you wait for something, it just makes it even better. So 35,000 foot view,

you know, just the big broad question. We're talking about tax reform, you know, lowering the

rates, broadening the base,

eliminating BS deductions, all this stuff. What does this mean for technology? Well, it means a lot of

things. It actually means a huge opportunity for technology, but some risks. And to put this in

perspective, you've got to look at the U.S. tax code, which you can date back to the Civil War,

to the advent of the income tax under Woodrow Wilson, to the expansion of the income tax after

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