[madison10]

It takes a TON of forms to squeeze every last cent out of hard working Americans so the government can spread the wealth to those who do not work so hard. (There are exceptions, of course)

[dfwgator]

Lawyers and Accountants will never allow it.

[dfwgator]

If the Democrats had their way, it would be real simple.

1. How much did you make last year?

2. Send it in.

[2banana]

Because democrats accuse republicans of starving kids and kicking grandma into the street everytime it is brought up.

Special interests and power...

[DoodleDawg]

I’m guessing there are no deductions for those countries.

[rktman]

Filing? Exactly. The treasury takes XX% and you fill out nothing. No deductions etc. It is what it is. Of course a lot of accountants would probably oppose that.

[itsahoot]

If you walk down the street in Tel Aviv, Tokyo, London or Lima, Peru, you won’t see an office of H & R Block or a similar company; in most countries, there’s no need for that industry.

And that is why tax reform talk is a joke, there is no profit for those that write the tax law, in simplification.

[Uncle Miltie]

[PGR88]

Because America’s progressives like the NY Times, believe they can manipulate, coerce and fine-tune any economic system to meet whatever their fashionable goals of the day are.

Therefore, we have credits for everything from solar panels to home health care to housing loan interest. And as a consequence, a corrupt, rent-seeking class of lobbyists and politicians rise up around them. They in turn create a hairball of complexity and corruption. I know a wealthy lawyer who is rich simply by consulting on tax details of the debt-structure of building cheap apartments under sec. 8 rules

America has a huge rent-seeking, corrupt, crony-capitalist political parasite class that would rival that of any 3rd world nation

[Dilbert San Diego]

Part of the tax complexity is that we need to file extra forms to claim certain tax exemptions which reduce your tax.

For example, if you claim interest on a home mortgage or charitable contributions, you need to fill out the appropriate form, otherwise you tax bill would be higher than it would otherwise be.

This entire debate can get as complicated as the entire internal revenue code. If you want to file the Form 1040EZ one pager you can, but most of us will pay more than we need to based on the 1040EZ calculation.

Tax complexity breeds a lot of the paperwork and time and hiring outside tax preparers, in my opinion.

[Milton Miteybad]

Pre-populated tax forms might work for taxpayers whose income is mostly derived via salaries, wages, etc.

The whole idea, however, pretty much sails right out the window when it comes to self-employed taxpayers. The IRS will have no idea how much it cost in expenses for a self-employed taxpayer to realize the total revenue reflected by his Forms 1099, and would not be able to pre-populate a Schedule C or a Form 4562.

[New Jersey Realist]

Tax Form:

Name, SSN, etc.

1. Your total income: _______
2. Send amount indicated in 1. above to IRS.
3. IRS will return to you what they think you need.

[al_c]

Easy answer ... because government is in charge of it.

[right way right]

We are living in Tyranny.
We have accepted mass manipulation by tyrants who extort from us, for the purpose of controlling us.
Kill Fedzilla!

[drypowder]

To answer the question, it’s simple. The US tax system is set up in large part as a scam on the American workers to transfer American wealth to the overlords who control the US government. It’s been that way since 1913.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I get these letters now and then — the revenue service is always right — and it makes me mad. If the government already has all this stuff, why did I have to spend hours digging through receipts and statements and 1099 forms to report what the I.R.S. already knows?

Because they have to justify hiring an obscene number of Gubmint employees to suck at the Gubmint teat and also have measures of control and intimidation over the Serfs.

That's why.

[forgotten man]

Here is how we can simplify the filing of income tax returns. On line 1 enter your total incomes from all sources. On line 2 enter 90% of line 1 and send that amount to the IRS. Be careful what you ask for because you might get it.

[KarlInOhio]

Paying the tax takes up a small amount of the form. Not paying tax takes up most of it. Why should I (or the IRS or Congress) care about what type of furnace you bought? Whether you, as a teacher (but not secretary or engineer) bought supplies for work? Gave to a charity? Paid a mortgage as opposed to rented or lived in a paid off house? Paid state income tax?

Just lower the rate and dump every one of those social engineering credits and deductions. I don't care how you earned or spent your money and neither should Congress.

[marron]

There is no reason for the average citizen to have any contact with IRS.

The company you work for is already withholding your taxes. They have the tables that say how much you owe. With a simplified tax code, you fill out your W-4 the day you go to work, with your number of dependents, and that’s it.

If your spouse works, so what. She is withheld based on the same tables. They couldn’t sum your two wages to get a higher tax rate, but they don’t need to. Each wage stands alone.

So aside from filling out your W-4, you never have to think about it again as long as you live. No April 15 madness. No worrying if you overpaid or underpaid, its not your problem. The company that is going to withhold the money anyway is the one responsible to IRS. End of story.

This is the way it is overseas. Its not the employee’s problem.

[LouAvul]

Congress critters make tax law and they love its intricacies so that the end user is ignorant of the implications. That way the bums in congress can manipulate the funds to keep themselves in hookers and blow.

It's way past time to kick those parasites out and reform govt with a modicum of common sense. (Term limits might be a good start.)

"Politics." From "poly" meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "blood sucking creatures."