This year's climb in the tax lobbyist population comes at a time when revamping the tax code is on the minds of some decision-makers.
This year's climb in the tax lobbyist population comes at a time when revamping the tax code is on the minds of some decision-makers.
This year’s climb in the tax lobbyist population comes at a time when revamping the tax code is on the minds of some decision-makers.

[REUTERS]

The ranks of lobbyists are growing in Washington again as Congress flirts with a possible overhaul of the complex U.S. tax code.

After declining for two years, the number of companies that hired a tax lobbyist, or lobbied on tax issues using in-house staff, rose modestly to 1,509 in the first three months of 2013, up from 1,487 during the same quarter a year ago, according to government filings analyzed by the nonpartisan watchdog group the Center for Responsive Politics.

Coinciding with the start of a new session of Congress, the analysis shows it is the busiest first quarter for tax lobbying since 2010, when PresidentBarack Obama set up the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission to find a solution to the country’s growing deficit, including changes to the tax code.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Freddie Allen is the National News Editor for the NNPA News Wire and BlackPressUSA.com. 200-plus Black newspapers. 20 million readers. You should follow Freddie on Twitter and Instagram @freddieallenjr.