Here’s Cal Thomas at Newsbusters on torture at tax
time:
Thanks to the beneficence of the
Internal Revenue Service -- and the fallout from COVID-19 -- we half of
Americans who pay federal income taxes have been given until May 17 to file.
Since I began earning enough to
file Form 1040 and associated forms, I have only known one person who prepared
his own taxes. That was Bill Archer, a Texas Republican who formerly headed the
House Ways and Means Committee. I once asked Archer why he prepared his. His
reply was that not only did he think it was fun, but because he helped write
the tax code, he felt a responsibility to demonstrate competence in filling out
the forms.
These days, the forms are so
complicated, hardly anyone I know understands them. The instructions need
instructions.
I have again filed jointly with my
wife (more than 70 pages). She owns a business, so it is more complicated than
if we filed separately. Still, the forms require translating a language I have
never studied and wouldn't want to. If you call the IRS and ask for help, you
are still responsible for interest and penalties if they give the wrong advice.
How complicated is it? Here are
just a few examples. Right off the top, I am threatened with prison should I
knowingly fudge information on the form. The federal government does threats
very well, including those read by flight attendants. Refuse to wear a mask,
even if vaccinated, and you risk arrest. Don't even think of tampering with the
smoke detector. Even the post office is now spying on us.
How's this for clarity from the
estimated tax worksheet: "Add lines 2a and 2b. Subtract line 2c from line
1. Figure your tax on the amount on line 3 by using the 2021 Tax Tables.
Caution: If you will have qualified dividends or a net capital gain or expect
to exclude or deduct foreign earned income or housing, see worksheets 2-5 and
2-6 in Pub. 505 to figure the tax."
Got that?
There are schedules and forms for
everything. They are nearly as numerous as the growing list of gender
identities. Under Schedule D, Profits and Losses, there is this gibberish:
"Totals for all short-term transactions reported on Form 1099-B for which
basis was reported to the IRS and for which you have no adjustments (see
instructions). However, if you choose to report all these transactions on Form
8949, leave this line blank and go to line 1b."
Say what?
No civilized society should force
its citizens to go through this annual torture.
. . .
The rest is here.
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