The tax code must be replaced. I would suggest simplified, but the last time congress simplified the tax code, it resulted n a 974 page manual explaining the simplifications. Congress is incapable of simplifying anything. If you do not agree with me, then you have not been watching, reading or listening.
The IRS has a publication called PUB 17. Get a copy. Read it for a few minutes or longer. Try to determine the following: Who is an alien? Who is a non-qualified non-dependent? Who is a dependent? Why is the standard deduction not standard? Read the part where it states that terrorists must exclude disaster relief fund from their gross income. True. I have inspected all the forms and can not find anywhere where you check a box for “ I am a terrorist.” I do not make this stuff up. The terrorist reference is on page 90, column 2 of PUB 17. According to IRS PUB 17, if you are a “participant or conspirator in a terrorist action,” then you must pay taxes on any disaster relief payments you receive. I did not know that.
PUB 17 is a comedian’s dream. Will Rogers could make millions just reading to audiences from the form. Audiences would be laughing, but unfortunately, I doubt visibly outraged. The lack of outrage stems from an acceptance that certain things can not be changed and that we are better off accepting the wealth distribution messages subtly encrypted in the tax code, rather than standing up and shouting for justice.
The real shame, about the congress and the whole economic mess we are in, is that when the comedians joke about it, most people laugh.
I am not laughing, but I am perplexed about who is going to fix it.
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