FranchiseHelp - Tue, Oct 4, 2011 10:00 AM EDTAs promised in my last tax reform guest post (What Tax Reform Should Be Focused On), I am following up in this post to explain the spending that exists in the tax law itself. This spending has grown to almost equal the discretionary spending in the federal budget. Tax expenditures total about $1.1 trillion per year and discretionary spending about $1.3 trillion (see About.com).The spending in the tax system exists in the form of special deductions, exclusions and tax credits. For example, individuals claiming a child credit of $1,000 per child have their tax bill reduced by that amount. ... More »Spending and Tax Reform