Pray for sensible and effective tax reform.

Congress will pass an elusive overhaul of the U.S. tax code this year, a key member of the GOP’s tax-writing team predicted Monday, saying lawmakers have reached an “inflection point” on onerous rules that are driving companies overseas and failing to reward those who stay.

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Rep. Peter Roskam, Illinois Republican and tax policy chairman for the House Ways and Means Committee, said nobody likes the status quo, so 2017 will be the year that Republicans link arms with President Trump and enact reform plans that gathered dust during the Obama years.

“I think a year from now we’re going to be celebrating this tax reform act,” he said in a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Tax reform is a leading priority for Republicans who took control of Congress and the White House this year, second only to efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare.

GOP leaders are relying on a fast-track budget rules to achieve both agenda items, while avoiding a Democratic filibuster in the Senate, although Mr. Trump said there might not be an Obamacare replacement until 2018, as the party struggles to coalesce around a plan.

Mr. Roskam is bullish about tax reform, however.

He said Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady has a game plan, while House Speaker Paul D. Ryan will carve out enough legislative hours to push the overhaul across the goal line.

The House GOP’s blueprint calls for slashing the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent — Mr. Trump has called for an ever lower rate of 15 percent — to stem the tide of U.S. manufacturers seeking more competitive rates overseas.

“The base erosion of the US. economy is really, really significant,” he said.

The GOP’s plans would also impose a 20-percent “border adjustment tax” on imports to raise an estimated $1 trillion in revenue over the course of a decade.

Mr. Roskam said the U.S. is “the only country of significance” that doesn’t employ such a tax.

The White House has said the border adjustment tax is a leading option for funding Mr. Trump’s border wall along the border with Mexico. Yet Congressional leaders were counting on that money to help even out tax rates, not to be used for the wall.

Mr. Trump himself had been critical of the adjustment tax, saying it was too complicated, though it appears to be back on the table for now.

Mr. Roskam also singled out the IRS on Monday, saying the agency must work to regain its reputation for “tough but fair” service after it targeted tea party groups seeking nonprofit status and mishandled civil assert forfeitures by freezing the accounts of legitimate business people.

“The shine is completely off the penny of the Internal Revenue Services,” Mr. Roskam said.

Democrats are waiting to see what emerges from the GOP’s blueprint before staking out a firm position on the majority’s plans.

Rep. Richard Neal, the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, said he wants to work with Republicans on tax reform, though there’s more agreement on what’s ailing the system than the actual cure.

He also said Republicans will need to get on the same page before proceeding.

“We are now seeing three competing proposals, at least in terms of verbiage: one from the White House, one from the Republicans in the House, and a bit of a stand-offish approach in the United States Senate,” Mr. Neal, of Massachusetts, told CNBC’s Squawk Box program last week.

“So, I’m hoping as this takes form there will be an opportunity for all of us to participate, highlighting again that the current American tax code on the personal and corporate side really is underproductive and inefficient.”

A December memo from Democrats at the Senate Finance Committee called the Republican plan “highly regressive,” placing a greater burden on the poor than the rich, and “fiscally irresponsible” for assuming that tax cuts will create enough economic growth to pay for themselves instead of simply inflating deficits.

They also feared that plans for a border adjustment tax would flout global trade rules.

“The House Blueprint leaves many questions unanswered,” committee staff wrote. “Some questions may be answered as the process moves forward. Other flaws seem to be intrinsic to the design.” (Contributor: By Tom Howell Jr. for The Washington Times)

For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” (1 Tim. 5:18)