These &(#())$ tax forms! |

I know you said it. These tax forms are a pain in the …. You probably even said worse.

You complain how difficult it is to figure out how to pay your taxes. Why there are so many forms. Why it takes so long to complete the forms. Or, perhaps you bring your stuff to someone like me to insure they are properly computed- one who enables you to pay the lowest amount of taxes required by law.

Well, the answer to why filling out the tax forms is complicated is really simple. The tax forms and computations are complex because YOU want them that way.

We could make taxes really simple. Add your wages. Send in 25% if you made between $ 50K and $ 100K; 30% if you made between $100K and 199K, and 35% if you made more. (Or, we can use the special form- as you see below.)

Obviously, that’s a pretty simple computation. But, it’s really not what you want. You want to deduct your mortgage interest. So, Congress modified the tax code to let you do so.

And, Tom, who owns a business, wants to be able to write off all those capital items he bought. And, Congress thinks that helps the economy grow, so they accommodated Tom by creating Section 179 (rapid depreciation).

Sue wants to deduct the cost of tuition. Yup, you figured it out. That’s been added as a deduction.

So, the loopholes (ok, tax deductions) mean we need higher rates to cover the bucks we give away with these special deductions. Because one person’s loophole is another person’s tax demand. Yes, every benefit in the tax code has its special interest group.

So, you see why the tax forms are complicated- because you really want them to be that way.