I read that the current tax code is over 27,000 pages long. How about a flat 17% income tax (Milton Friedman’s number) on income. No deductions, no prebates, everyone pays it on all sources of income. You could file your tax return on a postcard and gov’t regulations and tax effects on the allocation of resources disappears. Indeed, if every source of income (e.g., employers, investment sources, etc.) collected the 17%, you wouldn’t even need to file a tax return.
Because in less than 10 years we will be right back where we are today.