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No more ReceiptsFeb 21 '00 Write an essay on this topic.A flat tax is perfect for anyone who hates hassles. That's me. I do not want to collect receipts. I do not want to have to beg my discount broker to dig up my records from 1991 so I can figure out how much a stock I sold last year appreciated. I do not want to have to save all my credit card bills. Nor do I want to go through all my phone bills with a diary and a pencil to determine which calls were made for business, and are therefore deductible, and which were personal, and are not. I really, really do not want to figure out what percentage of the square footage of my house my home office takes up. And I don't want to have to decide whether I will calculate a home office deduction by square footage or by number of rooms. (And does the enclosed, but unheated, front porch count as a room? How about the finished attic? The workroom in the unfinished basement?) I have trouble telling my family they can not come in to chat with me in my home office, because if they do, the room is no longer used exclusively for business and is no longer a tax deduction. You get the point, and I haven't even gotten into my extreme hatred of gathering everything up and taking it to an accountant. Or into the fact that no way am I going to keep track of the dollars I dole out to homeless people. Beyond the Biblical command to "not let the right know what the left hand is doing" when making charitable donations, I really wonder how many panhandlers would respond kindly to a request for a receipt. So, my vote goes to the flat tax. I don't even care what it would be. Whatever the bite -- 17%, 22%, 25% -- I would far rather pay up than have the IRS send me a notice in five years saying that I messed up on something and now owe a zillion dollars plus six zillion in interest and penalties. I just do not want that hanging over my head. Listen up, IRS, I begrudge you nothing. Truly. I am just so bad at details. I so hate keeping track of minutia. Just tell me what to pay and it's yours. Now, if my puny return causes this level of angst, think of what goes on in corporations. How much more does each of us pay for our marbles and mouse pads and matzo balls because companies big and small must spend big money on tax compliance? And how much does each of us pay in taxes to keep the IRS afloat? The big argument against a flat tax is that it will hurt the poor and hand the rich a windfall. Please! Rich and sophisticated tend to go hand-in-hand. Upper income households have always known how to shelter income from taxes. One of the biggest arguments in favor of a flat tax, in fact, is that it will no longer be easy for them to do so. Yes, earned income will be taxed while unearned income will not be, and that is too bad. But, on the whole, I think there is an excellent chance that more tax dollars will flow from the highest net worth families under a flat tax scheme. As for the lowest income families, every modern flat tax proposal has a provision to provide tax relief for those who make under approximately $36,000. Flat tax now, please! I really am not looking forward to another "What, these are all the receipts you could find! Didn't I tell you to keep a shoebox in your car!" lecture from my accountant.  |
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