Might be worth pointing out something:
If you have a complex tax system with deductions and methods for avoiding taxes, then eliminating those methods and complexity punishes the smart.
Simply that. If the smart have an advantage now and you take it away from them, that's punishment.
Can rich dumb people pay accountants? Yes. But over the long run those accountants may cost them more than they save.
It is not clear to me there is value in simplifying the tax system.
Rep. Bill Archer, Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee:
"A recent survey was done, in Europe and Japan, of the major corporations and I was astounded at the results. They were asked, 'If the US abolished its income tax and went to a sales tax, would that have any impact on your decisions?' Eighty percent of the corporations said they would build their factories in the United States of America. Twenty percent said they would move their international headquarters to the United States of America."
Surely you jest. Why should ANYONE - smart or dumb - be required to jump through such hoops due to governmental whim in raising money to fund their activities?