[ArGee]

Been audited twice. Both times I was doing my best to comply with code. Both times IRS ruled against me and actually showed me my error hidden in the depth of the gawdaful 'code'. And with the IRS you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. And furthermore, even if there was no intent to defraud, you are still liable for interest and peanalties, so as a business owner, I have no choice but pay out the A** for an accountant to prepare my taxes now.

This story reinforces my point. It is immoral to treat a law-abiding citizen as a criminal. It is immoral to set up a legal system that practically enshrines such behavior.

Trying to set up new procedures, such as treating unaware spouses more gently or reducing the penalties and fees for unintentional errors would only be a band-aid on a system that fundamentally treats people immorally. It MUST be stopped.

Shalom.

[OHelix]

`SECTION 1. PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION.

`(a) IN GENERAL- Any court, the Secretary, and any sales tax administering authority shall consider the purposes of this subtitle (as set forth in subsection (b)) as the primary aid in statutory construction.

`(b) PURPOSES- The purposes of this subtitle are as follows:

`(1) To raise revenue needed by the Federal Government in a manner consistent with the other purposes of this subtitle.

`(2) To tax all consumption of goods and services in the United States once, without exception, but only once.

`(3) To prevent double, multiple, or cascading taxation.

`(4) To simplify the tax law and reduce the administration costs of, and the costs of compliance with, the tax law.

`(5) To provide for the administration of the tax law in a manner that respects privacy, due process, individual rights when interacting with the government, the presumption of innocence in criminal proceedings, and the presumption of lawful behavior in civil proceedings.

`(6) To increase the role of State governments in Federal tax administration because of State government expertise in sales tax administration.

`(7) To enhance generally cooperation and coordination among State tax administrators; and to enhance cooperation and coordination among Federal and State tax administrators, consistent with the principle of intergovernmental tax immunity.

`(c) SECONDARY AIDS TO STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION- As a secondary aid in statutory construction, any court, the Secretary, and any sales tax administering authority shall consider--

`(1) the common law canons of statutory construction;

`(2) the meaning and construction of concepts and terms used in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as in effect before the effective date of this subtitle; and

`(3) construe any ambiguities in this Act in favor of reserving powers to the States respectively, or to the people.