April 14, 2008
Tax Day (editorial)
As millions of Americans confer with their accountants, hunch over their computer screens, and get ready to pay the taxman in preparation for tomorrow's April 15 Internal Revenue Service deadline, a few thoughts come to mind.
The first is the need for tax simplification. Think of how much better it would be if all the time and energy devoted to reading IRS fine print were devoted to more productive tasks. Polls for the Tax Foundation show year after year that wide majorities of Americans believe the tax system is too complex. The federal tax code is tens of thousands of pages long, and much income is taxed three times—when it is originally earned, when it grows as a savings or investment, and again at death. [Read the full article.]