The byzantine complexity of tax law appears almost intentionally designed so that it can be used as a cudgel against anyone who doesn’t tow the line. Raise your head politically, start making some waves, and expect the bureaucratic state to find some legal excuse to hammer you back down. This is not what America was meant to be!
“here’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of lawbreakers – and then you cash in on the guilt. Now that’s the system, . . . that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.” - Floyd Ferris to Hank Reardon in Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand