Tax reform is much needed
Tax reform is the next big policy fight on the horizon in Washington, D.C., and it is long overdue! The U.S. tax code – with more than 75,000 pages – is an incomprehensible mess. The Internal Revenue Service offers more than 2,000 forms and instructions. That is excessive, to put it mildly.
In order to comply with the sheer volume of tax rules, Americans spend over 6 billion hours preparing their tax returns every year, and more than $400 billion to ensure they’ve complied with the law. Imagine how great our economy would be if those 6 billion hours were poured into creative enterprise!
The hard-earned money that Americans must spend complying with the tax code is, of course, money that we are not spending elsewhere in the economy.
The tax code should be simpler, flatter, and fairer. And our tax system should raise the money necessary to fund our government, while minimizing compliance costs. It’s a simple message that Americans support. Let’s hope Congress is listening.
Sincerely,
Christine Hutchison
Kenai