A recent poll by The Associated Press “reveals” the tax code is too complex, according to the public. Talk about a “dog bites man” story!
The poll finds that seven in 10 of the 1,000 people polled say taxes are too complicated, and about half would prefer going to the dentist than doing their taxes. (Hmmm, with or without Novocain?)
In keeping with the liberal media’s fondness for taxes, the poll claims that most Americans are “not eager to simplify tax preparation by getting rid of some deductions and tax credits.” However, what 46 percent of respondents reallysaid is they would take a simpler tax code in exchange for fewer deductions and credits. Another 51 percent said they wouldn’t.
Looks pretty close to a toss up between those who want an understandable tax code and those who benefit too much from all the add-on breaks.
For those who still have concerns about simplifying the tax code, economists Lawrence Hunter and Stephen Entin, writing for the Institute for Policy Innovation, have outlined a way to create a new tax code that stresses simplicity. Their report, “A Framework for Tax Reform,” says an efficient and fair tax code would contain four elements: neutrality, visibility, fairness and simplicity. All of which translate, in the economists’ view, to as flat a tax on income as possible that everyone can understand.
“Economic neutrality requires that all income be taxed at the same rate. It is improper to tax some income at a higher rate than other income, either through graduated tax rates or by imposing multiple layers of tax on some types of income but not on other types of income,” Hunter and Entin report.
Of course, all of this takes the political will to fight the entrenched interests that benefit from the current code.
But with most of the public agreeing that today’s code is too complex, it can be done. And if we want a fair, honest and transparent government, it must be done.
(A “Framework for Tax Reform” can be found at www.ipi.org)