Show uncle sam the money!
Often as we approach April 15 we hear the moans and cries of the dreaded tax victims. My cries are also heard among those lamenting voices. And occasionally you hear the "it is not even in the constitution" that we have to pay taxes. Which is actually true. Then again there are many things that did not find there way into the original constitution that we consider and except as constitutional. And like income tax it came in the form of an Amendment. We are directed to the 16Th Amendment past in July of 1909 for the income tax reality.
Prior to this historical change there were previous attempts to legalize individual income tax. The Revenue Act of 1861 for example was enacted to fund the Civil War. This was repealed in 1871 however. Then in 1894 Congress enacted a flat income tax which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because the taxes were not apportioned with each individual States population. However by 1913 the 1909 16Th Amendment was ratified and considered in accord with the Constitution. The filing date was originally March 1, then in 1918 it was March 15, until in1954 when the filing date was moved back to April 15.
During the second half of the 20Th century the income tax took on many reforms and things like the Social Security tax were added in 1935. All of this has led to a more complex obstacles and corrupted results. The Internal Revenue Service which President Lincoln assigned to oversee the tax collections in 1861 has come and gone until firmly entrenched in the 1950's. They have a daunting task that has become a dog and pony show.
If you do moderate research you will find that what the Government plans to get and what they actually get are very different. Also the National Budget is based on projected revenue and not actual revenue. So you see where a problem exists. A monumental problem.
Looks are deceiving.
Then you take into account the extreme measures that corporate and private citizens go to reduce their taxable income. Why it is understandable and reasonable it seems we have long past the practical aspect and purpose of the tax process.
Also there is no denying the total catastrophe we call Government spending. Frankly all this jumbled application of tax collecting is an incentive to waste a colossal load of cash. It breeds corruption. On the other end we have the fraudulent filers who blatantly cheat and lie about their responsibility. Then you have the harsh reality that the every day "Joe and Sally" cannot meet the burden of all their expected taxes because they have things called children or not so good jobs, etc. Usually all of the above. And of course bad budget discipline to go with that reality. But that doesn't get the money to the government either.
Looking back it seems the tax structure was way more effective when it was a reasonable flat rate. Isn't actual money collected more valuable then owed money with added penalties? We need to be realistic here. Plus the Government wastes so much money trying to get blood from a stone. Then you add the offers in compromise they will except. Someone owes $10,000 from years past and they take $1800. Well it would have been better if that person paid $1500 at the time and never got behind. The money it cost to process such an agreement negated most of the money collected. Plus there owed $10,000 was spent by the Government in the year following when it was due. What was the point? I am all for how the compromise helps people in financial trouble but my point is we can make this so much easier and timely. Which would lead to effectiveness.
Honestly do the math, if people were given a nominal flat sum to pay based on their income the Government would have so much more liquid cash. Actual money. You could lower the cost to run the IRS substantially. Also the incentive to cheat would be lessened. As for the down right liars and cheaters you could appropriate a task force to aggressively attack the obvious areas where "under the table" business is done. And enforce serious punishment on the employer and employee cheating on the tax. If it isn't worth cheating than people won't cheat.
Also some method of exposing Government fraud needs to be addressed. Heads need to roll. Quite frankly and disgraceful is the fact that the Government dips into Social Security funds and is poking bigger holes into a sinking ship. And no one is saying or doing anything about it. Oh you may hear the cries of how bad Social Security is but no one has the guts to point out who made it that way. And it isn't just Democrats or Republicans. This was a untied effort of legal stealing.
When you spend this you are in trouble! These are numbers not cash!
The bottom line is it may not solve all the problems but the IRS would actually collect and save an enormous amount of money if people were required to pay a small flat rate instead of all of this jumping through hoops and juggling of numbers. Dollars on paper are worthless. Sometimes less is more!
