I spent the weekend working on taxes for 2004. After 40 years of paying them, I should be pretty good at preparing them. But there's always something new to be considered and some revised form that keeps me busy for an extra hour or two. But, ultimately, I get through the stack of forms. This weekend was dedicated just to the small business I own. It's just a flyspeck on the Federal radar... if even that. But I still get to consider all of the forms that larger businesses use. Then I get to pass the information on to my personal returns and spend another weekend working on that.
I'll owe a little this year because I took out some money from savings and I guess not enough was withheld. Not a problem. I spoke with my son who was doing the same thing in Chicago. Two incomes, renting an apartment... big time payers. Still, we do our best to follow the forms and pay what is owed.
It's tough that we all really need to be accountants to do this... or hire one. I can pretty much do it on my own with an occasional question to my brother or friend who are accountants... though I hate to bother them. Just follow what was done last year and look for changes in the instructions. I guess I would not be too upset if income taxes were replaced by a federal sales tax. Spend more, pay more. The problem with that is that it seems to be a regressive tax. A guy who makes a billion a year is not going to spend 100% of his income, but a guy making $100,000 will get a lot closer to 100%. And the guy making $10,000 spends it all. So that probably won't fly.
I think that a straight 18% tax rate on GROSS INCOME... forget all of the deductions... with a deduction for the first $20,000 (amount can be worked out). That really amounts to a graduated tax up to a couple hundred thousand and a flat tax afterward. A simple, fair approach to taxes that should be close to revenue-neutral. After all, there's a lot of nonsense that goes on with the very rich to avoid taxes. Let's just clean it up and make it simple.
And then I got to thinking about the budget deficit....
