General economic conditions and dissatisfaction with the federal^ tax system'have caused U.S.-policy makers and analysts to consider revamping•the present tax structure. Current tax laws are based-on the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (IRC), and include numerous personal tax preferences, special deductions, credits, and exclusions enacted'since 1954. Reformers question the equity and efficiency of the current, progressive rate structure with its aiaalgam of added provisions. In "Blueprints for Basic Tax Reform" (Department of "the Treasury, p. 1)-, it is stated that "although the Federal-fax system by and large relates tax burdens to individual ability"to pay, the tax code does not reflect any consistent philosophy about the objectives-of'the system."