Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah told CNBC on Monday that he is confident President-elect Donald Trump can deliver meaningful tax reform next year, calling the United States' current tax rates "stupid."
Hatch said on CNBC's "Power Lunch" the current tax system makes it much more difficult for the government to collect taxes. He added that people know the rates are unfair.
"We want to get tax rates down for almost everybody," he said." That's hard to do if you want to maintain budget neutrality. We got over $2 trillion overseas that is just sitting there because we're so stupid that we have the highest corporate tax rate in the organized world."
Trump campaigned on a pledge to slash taxes across the board. The corporate tax rate currently stands at 35 percent. Steven Mnuchin, Trump's intended pick for Treasury secretary, said the administration's goal is to reduce that rate to 15 percent.
Hatch said once Trump reduces the tax rate, companies will bring their money back.
"Our companies would zoom and attract people from all over the world," he said.