“Imagine the size of
Tea Party rallies if every American had to walk to the post office
on April 15 with a check (and actually have that much money in their
checking account) for their entire income tax and Social Security
tax liabilities. The present level of government taxing and spending
would not be sustainable”.
— "End
the IRS Before it Ends U$", by Grover Norquist, leader of
Americans for Tax
Reform
Just as I’m finally able
to reach my Adirondack reading chair in the side yard (while keeping
my vitamin drink cold by sinking it into a last little pile of icy
snow), my friend Grover’s new book arrives! Fortunately I’m not the
sort to put off filing my taxes until the last minute (out of
consideration for my tax accountant friend), so I could spend part
of my weekend reading.
You may wonder why a
taxpayer activist needs help filing taxes. Well, those of us who
resist unlimited taxation are probably more aware than most citizens
that there is little in the federal tax code that makes sense, that
a normal person could figure out for himself.
This difficulty is not a
new phenomenon. In 1966, my husband and I thought we could save
scarce money by doing our own taxes. After a long afternoon at the
kitchen table in our little apartment, we found we owed over a
thousand dollars. You should know that my husband was a new teacher,
making around $6,000 a year counting three part-time jobs; I was a
stay-at-home mom. We had never heard of capital gains or “investment
income”. And yet, in all simplicity, we were over our heads in a
hole.
Jack was an English not a
math teacher, and we thought we might be using too many zeros or not
enough points. Defeated, we piled everything into a cardboard box,
packed up the baby, and headed for H&R Block. Eventually I found an
accountant friend.
Fast forward to 2015 and a
new study from the
National
Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) about tax code complexity in
the U.S: NTUF found that “the economy lost $233.8 billion due to 6.1
billion hours (an estimated value of $202.1 billion) and $31.7
billion in out-of-pocket costs spent complying with a complex and
invasive tax code.
“Additionally, a new
analysis of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) impact on complexity
found 3,322 pages of legal guidance related to the ACA added to
IRS.gov.
“Americans face a rising
tax complexity burden that essentially prevents anyone from being
able to comply without assistance,” NTUF author Michael Tasselmyer
said. “This year’s study gives an indication of future challenges,
revealing the additional complications the Affordable Care Act will
add to the Tax Code and filing.”
Nevertheless, American
taxpayers peaceably filed their taxes by midnight yesterday, most of
them having been already paid through an efficient tax-withholding
system created to pay for WWII seventy years ago. If computations
weren’t exact, some owed more, but many will get refunds and,
pathetically, some of them will be grateful to Uncle Sam for
returning some of the interest-free loan they gave him.
Along with enjoying the
fantasy, above, of suddenly-aware American taxpayers having to pay
their share of the tax burden all at once, I’ll also indulge in a
fantasy of what would happen, rally-wise, if federal taxes were also
raised to cover the $18 trillion national debt, instead of expecting
future generations to pay for today’s government overspending.
Let me say that many
voters would deserve the heart palpitations that would drive them to
the ground with horror and anxiety. However, the rest of us, who
have been trying to limit taxes and oppose deficit spending by
supporting smaller government, don’t deserve what would happen to us
all as U.S. economic activity came to a screeching halt for the
foreseeable future because of huge tax increases.
If we continue the way we
are going, the consequences will be bad enough. If I didn’t care
about any young people, e.g., my grandchildren, I could just
withdraw into my golden years figuring the American experiment
probably isn’t going to collapse entirely until I’m gone; I could
read “American
Canopy”, a book about trees by Eric Rutkow, instead of Grover’s
book this week.
Just kidding. I am looking
forward to “American Canopy” this summer, but right now I am
thoroughly enjoying “End the IRS”. Grover’s knowledge of every
aspect of federal taxation, from history to various newly-proposed
solutions, is presented with his trademark humor and optimism.
I also admit I was excited
to receive an advance copy of the
Selous Foundation’s
proposal, “The Freedom Tax”. They had me at the title, but I ran it
by my friend the Austrian economist, who agrees with its policy
recommendations: “10% flat tax, at source taxation, no tax returns
for most taxpayers, elimination of the gift tax, estate tax and
capital gains tax. This and other measures results in cutting the
tax code by 95 percent, thereby eliminating the IRS as we know it”.
Another version of IRS
elimination comes with “The
Fair Tax”, though I admit “fair’ doesn’t grab me the way
“freedom” does. Norquist addresses the pros and cons of a national
sales tax replacing the income tax, to start the discussion. There
will be many proposals this year as Republican candidates deal with
“tax reform” as part of their platforms. I’ll eventually cover them
all.
As for Massachusetts
today: using the latest data from the Washington-based
Tax Foundation on state and local per capita tax burdens, ours
was the fifth-highest in the nation, $5,586 for every man, woman and
child in the commonwealth, 32.4 percent above the national average.
So, don’t let anyone tell you we don’t pay enough for essential
services, if they were ever effectively provided by a well-managed
state.
Barbara Anderson of
Marblehead is president of Citizens for Limited Taxation and a Salem
News columnist.
