Tax Refunds being stolen

[BKBrown]

That would be GREAT, but it won't happen because it would put to many Tax Lawyers, Tax Prep. businesses, and Accountants who lobby politicians out of business. 10% off of gross or 5% off of gross + 3% or 4% consumer tax would be fair. With those - everyone including those who find the loopholes now would pay.

It'd be nice if we could go to a fair tax or usage tax and get totally away from this complicated mess we've got right now.

 

[mark02tj]

It'd be nice if we could go to a fair tax or usage tax and get totally away from this complicated mess we've got right now.

That would be GREAT, but it won't happen because it would put to many Tax Lawyers, Tax Prep. businesses, and Accountants who lobby politicians out of business. 10% off of gross or 5% off of gross + 3% or 4% consumer tax would be fair. With those - everyone including those who find the loopholes now would pay.

I'm a CPA and I'm all for the Fair Tax!! Back when I was still practicing and doing tax research, I'd see waaaaay too much crap in the tax code that you could tell was written for a specific person/company. The code and regs are tens of thousands of pages and there's no way any one person can know even a fraction of it. You can't call the IRS and get them to answer a simple question. Something has to change.

 

[BKBrown]

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking all the people I mentioned. It is just that many have been too influential and have convinced politicians to make the tax codes and regulations so large. Flat tax, Fair tax, or consumer tax would be the way to go. There could even be an exemption for food, clothing (to a limit), and necessary items like soap and toilet paper.

I'm a CPA and I'm all for the Fair Tax!! Back when I was still practicing and doing tax research, I'd see waaaaay too much crap in the tax code that you could tell was written for a specific person/company. The code and regs are tens of thousands of pages and there's no way any one person can know even a fraction of it. You can't call the IRS and get them to answer a simple question. Something has to change.

 

[mark02tj]

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking all the people I mentioned. It is just that many have been too influential and have convinced politicians to make the tax codes and regulations so large. Flat tax, Fair tax, or consumer tax would be the way to go. There could even be an exemption for food, clothing (to a limit), and necessary items like soap and toilet paper.

Don't get me wrong - I knock CPA's and lawyers ALL the time!!! :laughing::laughing::thumbsup:

You are 100% correct though; there is way too much influence in the tax code. That's why the "Fair Tax" will never pass. It transfers too much power away from the politicians. And it would be too easy for the public. And, since it's a relatively novel concept, the politicians are afraid of it.

Quick story about how clueless those that want to make laws for us are clueless about the current laws.... Several years ago we had a youngish (early 30's) woman running as a D against our firmly entrenched R incumbent Congressman. She was espousing the idea of "citizen legislators" as the Founders had envisioned. Was saying that she would only serve a few terms before turning the seat over for someone else to run. Was a small business owner (she was a veterinarian that ran a "vet on call" service in case you were a vet that was sick one day or wanted to go on vacation, someone could cover your practice), so she "understood what small business people go through". I ran into her campaigning at a local festival. I talked to her for a few minutes and then asked her how she felt about "The Fair Tax". She said the thing she didn't like about it was that it turned businesses into tax collection agencies for the government. :confused2: I said "businesses are already collecting taxes for the government!". She looked confused and said "how so?" I said "sales taxes, social security, Federal and State income taxes withheld from employees' pay checks, etc." She looked confused again and said "that's different." HUH??? I did a little "research" on her and her business and found her business web site. What I found was that she was paying all of her "employees" as subcontractors which meant that she wasn't withholding (or remitting) any taxes for her "employees". This is totally against IRS regs and she was clueless about it (or just flat ignoring it). I decided not to vote for her. She ended up withdrawing from the race after a domestic violence "incident" where she and her (now ex-)husband decided to take a few swings at each other.

Anyway, for those interested, check out FairTax.org.