by
Carl Hampton
08/04/2006
“In this world nothing can be said to
be certain, except death and taxes”
Benjamin Franklin
I, like many other good citizens from this
great country of ours, left it to the very
last moment to mail off this year’s tax
return. As I entered the local post office
and saw the long line, I once again promised
myself that next year would be different. I
really would make the effort to get them off
before the last minute rush.
As I moved slowly towards the front of the
line, I began wondering, in this day and age
is this really the best system our great and
wonderful leaders can come up with. After
all, we now live in a world that allows a
satellite miles above us to read a number
plate. We can get the worldwide web on our
cell phone, download TV programs that we may
have missed or just want to save onto our
iPods.
The original tax laws introduced in 1913
were a very simple affair. They began with
tax brackets ranging from 1 to 7 percent - a
far cry from today’s levels. The IRS tax
codes, regulations and guidelines now have
well over 9 million words. No wonder there's
so much confusion. Is there truly anyone who
really understands this monster. Let’s put
this into some form of prospective. The
Declaration of Independence has a little
more than 1300 words. The Constitution which
has served us well for more than 200 years
comes in around 5000 words and the Holy
Bible makes do with less than 800,000 words.
The Office of Management & Budget
estimated in 2004 that we as a nation spent
over $200 billion on compliance cost. At a
time when the nations manufacturing
industries, the foundation of any good
economy, are all struggling against cheaper
imports, shouldn’t our leaders be using
that money to create “Jobs” for their
citizens. Most experts agree that $200
billion would create well over 3 million
jobs, which of course creates sales of
consumable goods which creates more jobs and
sales taxes.
From the moment we wake up in the morning we
are being hit by taxes. Everyone is at it --
turn on the light (electricity taxes), run
the shower (utility taxes) and my personal
favorite the telephone taxes, all 6 million
of them, or that's what it seems to me every
time I receive a telephone bill.
Has the time come for a simple Flat Rate
Tax, something we can ALL understand. There
are many countries all over the world who
have used this simple to understand and cost
effective way of collecting taxes to
revitalize their economies. Let's just
imagine for a moment what it would be like
if we could complete our tax returns on one
simple piece of paper. A Flat Rate Tax for
individuals and a Flat Rate Tax for
businesses. The same rules apply to all
regardless of size of income. We all pay the
same rate. Most of the successful countries
have levied Flat Rate Taxes of less than
17%, with a stating level that protects the
lower income groups. Could life ever be that
simple again? Would our Leaders really want
us to understand what they were up to? And
then there's those lobbyist. Oh well, it was
nice while it lasted.
Have an opinion or a question you would like
me to answer, then write me!
http://www.CarlHampton.com
