I have never been impressed with most of the "income tax is unconstitutional" arguments, from gold fringes to "not a 14th Amendment citizen" but while I waste hours of my life doing my taxes with TurboTax, I can see why someone going through this absurd process might be tempted to build a potato cannon and go after the IRS (as happened some years ago in Fresno). Simplifying the system (perhaps to a national sales tax, not a VAT) would likely keep a number of people from going off the deep end. Some years back, I filed a 40+ page federal income tax return. IRS enjoyed my audit much less than I did.
All done, I only owe about $6000 to feds and Idaho. That's progress.
Simplification, yes.
ReplyDeleteVAT.. probably not. A VAT is a hidden tax, which makes it politically easier for governments to raise it.
It is also a fair tax ("regressive"). That leads to governments instituting income taxes anyway, out of "fairness."