So, this is rarely read, and typically without comment. But I'm going to write this anyway, because it's tax "season" and I just finished spending hours last night preparing and filing my taxes.
Have you ever thought about how ridiculous it is to have to spend hours, sometimes days, collecting papers, many of which might be over a year old, records, files, putting them all in one spot, and then completing forms, doing calculations, checking your math, and so on, all for the sole purpose of collecting money you've already earned? Or worse, for the purpose of having to pay more money than you've already paid?!
A related question might be, "Why am I spending so much time filing forms with a medical savings account custodian, to get reimbursed by them for medical bills I've paid, from an account to which I've contributed the entire balance?" This is all so it's not figured into my income taxes. Of course, if I contribute more than I spend, I'm out the dough. And if I contribute less than I spend, I have to pay income tax on money I legitimately spent on medical expenses!
Why do you have a 401(k) plan with your employer? To avoid income tax. Why do you have a 529 plan for your kid's college fund? To avoid income tax. Why do you have a UGMA account for your kids? Why is it so important to have a will, and to have (to an extent) a living trust? All of this is to avoid having to pay income tax.
How in the world do we ever get out from having to pay the government, at the point of a gun, a portion of everything we earn??
Contact your congressperson and tell them you want them to investigate, get onboard with, support, and legislate The Fair Tax. Next, tell your friends about it and engage in discussion about it. Tell them about the benefits of:
- Eliminating the IRS
- Eliminating filing every year
- Receiving your entire paycheck (nothing withheld for Federal income tax or FICA)
- Retail prices going down
- Eliminating the need to establish special retirement plans, college funding plans, medical reimbursement plans, childcare reimbursement plans
- Saving for retirement on your own, tax free
But what if you don't know about any of this stuff? What if this is the first you've heard of it? Where do you find out more?
First, go to the Fair Tax web site (www.fairtax.org). Some areas have chapters specific to those areas: In my home state (Minnesota) there's a private group that hosts www.mnfairtax.org. Next, I encourage reading the "The Fair Tax Book" written by Neal Boortz and Representative John Linder. The paperback version is coming out beginning of May 2006 for under $10 through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Whatever you do, do not sit back on your laurels and relax after taking the above steps. Continue learning and talking with people. And continue advocating for changing the system.
Let's get this thing done. Let's remove a government burden (no, not taxes; even Jesus said to render unto Ceaser what was Ceaser's): the requirement that we file and pay a portion of everything we earn. Instead, make it a requirement to pay a portion of everything we spend.
Good luck!
