April 15th

April 15th, the deadline for all Americans to voluntarily relinquish a portion of their yearly earnings to the government in the form of the income tax.  After today they force you to pay up at the point of a gun.  Good times.  I often wonder if this is the “necessary evil” Thomas Paine was referring to  so long ago.   Of course, here’s an opening to segue into a point about the Tea Party movement, but I will refrain.  Still…

My wife and I prepare our own taxes each year.  We like to keep it simple.  This can be challenging since the US tax code is anything but simple.  We figure that our government provides us with the tools and information we need to do this successfully.  And to the best of our knowledge we have been successful, that was until we heard about another deduction we could have taken advantage of, but missed.  It would seem that we could have claimed a $1000 property tax deduction, even though we didn’t itemize our deductions.  The bad part is I read about this deduction on page 34 of the 1040A tax booklet, only I didn’t understand I could tack it on to the standard deduction we claimed this year (it was a lean year).  Silly me.  Imagine not being able to understand a tax booklet.  I hate to say it, but by page 34 I was doing everything possible to stay awake and not drool on myself.  This is some pretty boring reading

But, let me segue into this question; why does our tax system have to be so difficult you need to have an accounting degree to understand it?  It seems that each year our government enacts new laws that further convolute the tax code.  It’s grown into such a behemoth that it takes an army of IRS employees to enforce and a counterforce of attorneys and accountants to help the public to understand.  It may seem pretty silly not to have comprehended the deduction I missed, but when I hear about how difficult filing taxes is for others it simply makes me wonder, why?

There are proposals to fix this monster, of which I like the fair tax.  It’s a simple consumption tax that gives the consumer all the power over how much they pay in taxes. I like that. I think one of the reasons our government continues to force our current tax code down our throats is because where plans like the fair tax empowers the people, our current tax laws empowers the politician.  Controlling the money is where the power in Washington is, so it makes sense they would dislike anything that limits their control.  And I mean this about both political parties.  I think no politician is exempt from this assessment.  Like I’ve said before, all politicians are scumbags.  What the voter has to do is pick the one that most closely represents their principles and values, especially when it comes to tax laws.

You know the ol’ sayin’; if it walks likes a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a scumbag.  You get my meanin’.

I guess I’ll amend my 2009 taxes even though I like to keep things simple and I really don’t want to mess with the IRS again this year. Dang!  I’m also going to keep trying to vote in politicians (aka scumbags) that agree with me that our tax laws need to be pitched.  I know that there will be a glut of accountants and attorneys out of a job if we did pitch them, but this is America, the land of opportunity.  I’m sure the government will find some work for them.  Last I heard jobs were the Obama Administration’s number one priority; at least for this week.

And I’m sure the government will find new and inventive ways to confiscate the earnings I work hard for.  Give that fair tax thing a look, you just might like it.