१५ एप्रिल, २००५
Taxes, done at last.
I can't believe how much time I spent doing taxes this year. What a nightmare! Here's an article saying that Americans spend 6.5 billion hours every year filling out tax forms. What a waste! Even if some simpler system would not be perfect, there is so much time that could be used on more productive, creative activities. How much better off we would be with a simpler system! And isn't it ordinary workers who are least able to take advantage of all the crazy little details that have made the system so complex? Let's change this fiendish system!
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I spent approximately 2 minutes doing my taxes today. I called my accountant and uttered one word..."Extension".
Wouldn't things be easier if we had a flat tax of, say, 10% for all taxpaying entities. No exceptions. I have no hard data but I postulate that this would also take in more income for the government than the present system.
Pancho, why do we need to have a completely flat tax? Eliminate all the deductions and all the special categories of income, but keep the progressive levels of taxation -- just make them comparatively low to make up for eliminating all the other things. I don't think someone making $10,000 a year should pay $1,000 in federal taxes, while someone making $200,000 a year only pays $20,000. That would be crazy.
I spent 4 or 5 hours doing my taxes and I don't even do my own taxes! I'm just gathering the information to send to the accountant whom I pay approximately 400 dollars. That's time and real money that could be put to better use.
Wow, Tax Answer! It's not a math problem. A person making $10,000 is desperately poor and currently probably pays no tax at all. You'd take $1,000 from him! You need to make more of an effort to picture real life.
Eliminating lines and attached schedules for the Federal Tax form would help.
For a flat tax, I would suggest a level below which no one would owe taxes, say the poverty level? If you made below that, no tax. There could also be a "progressive" percentage (as now but lower, of course). Just simplify the forms, please!
So, then, does fairness mean complexity? Must we have all these lines and schedules in order to keep things fair?
Most likely in any flat tax proposal, deductions for marriage and children would remain. I would imagine some deductions for business expenses would have to be included also. Others might think of more deductions that need to remain.
After a few years would we once again wind up with a hodge podge of lines and schedules?
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