Why isn't the tax code simpler? Even Nina Olson, the taxpayer advocate at the Internal Revenue Service, says it's too complicated. See WSJ:
In my view, it's because elected officials believe the political risks of putting forward a proposal to vastly simplify the tax code outweigh the political benefits. Each tax break has a constituency, and constituencies that stand to lose benefits tend to organize quickly to protect their interests.
Elsewhere in the article:
- According to my office's analysis of IRS data, U.S. taxpayers and businesses spend about 7.6 billion hours a year complying with the filing requirements of the Internal Revenue Code.
- If tax compliance were an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States. To consume 7.6 billion hours, such a "tax compliance industry" would require the equivalent of 3.8 million full-time workers.
She goes on to offer a blueprint for change. Read the whole thing at WSJ.
Here's my solution, courtesy of Steve Forbes : FLAT TAX!
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