Posted on 02/01/2002 5:32:11 AM PST by vannrox
What we need Right NOW!Our Elected Officials need to do their OWN Taxes!VANNROX at BlueBay 02-01-02 I have cracked open my 1040 tax form and started to work on it. I know that the tax forms have been bad in the past. But, honestly, this is the absolute worst tax form that I have ever seen! It is almost as if a legion of demons have crawled up out of Hell and wrote their own twisted kind of sadistic evil mayhem to wreck upon our frail and pitiful lives. Look, I am a degreed Aerospace Engineer, among other things... yes, that is right, I am a Rocket Scientist. And, Even I can't make heads or tails out of this tax code. Not only is it poorly written, and confusing, and horrific, but it is extremely stressful and insulting that Americans have to put up with this kind of nonsense at all. Just in case you might not believe me, or question my integrity in this matter, let me quote from the 'friendly' 1040 form on the subject of an IRA. That's right. Your friendly IRA. That is, it is a Retirement Account that Congress set up to help us save our own money when it became increasingly clear that Social Security would fail to do what it was intended to do. Here is the simple instructions on how the government (Our Government, I might add) wants us to report on our savings to them. Pause. Think about it. We have to report to our government what we saved. So that they can tax it. Because, the Saving Plan that they MADE US PARTICIPATE IN has been found to be insufficient for the job. Lines 15a and 15b IRA Distributions Note. If you converted part or all of an individual retirement arrangement (IRA) to a Roth IRA in 1998 and you chose to report the taxable amount over 4 years, see 1998 Roth IRA Conversions on this page. You should receive a Form 1099-R show- ing the amount of any distribution from your IRA or Coverdell education savings account (ESA). Unless otherwise noted in the line 15a and 15b instructions, an IRA includes a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, simplified em- ployee pension (SEP) IRA, and a savings incentive match plan for employees (SIMPLE) IRA. Except as provided below, leave line 15a blank and enter the total dis- tribution on line 15b. Exception 1. Enter the total distribution on line 15a if you rolled over part or all of the distribution from one: IRA to another IRA of the same type (for example, from one traditional IRA to another traditional IRA), Coverdell ESA to another, or SEP or SIMPLE IRA to a traditional IRA. Also, put "Rollover" next to line 15b. If the total distribution was rolled over, enter zero on line 15b. If the total was not rolled over, enter the part not rolled over on line 15b unless Exception 2 applies to the part not rolled over. If you rolled over the distribution (a) in 2002 or (b) from a conduit IRA into a qual- ified plan, attach a statement explaining what you did. Exception 2. If any of the following apply, enter the total distribution on line 15a and... Ok, that is enough. It only gets worse from then on. Look I understand that many federal Employees are good and hard working people. I also know that there are many treasury employees that are wonderful people. Honestly. I am even related to some. And, I must add, that this comment and flame and rage is not specifically directed at ANY specific employee or to any one in general at the IRS or any other branch of Government. But rather this rage is directed to a system that has gotten out of hand. Again, I am not upset at any employee or the IRS as itself, but rather the system which seems to have broken down. Here is the problem. The IRS simply administers the directions provided to them by Congress. Congress, in turn, creates the laws that we abide by through the need to finance the various Governmental Programs. The Governmental Programs are created to either solve a problem of to enhance the "Public Good". The Problem is not, and I repeat NOT, at the IRS administrative level, but rather at the Congressional Level. All our anger has been and is directed at the IRS, when the real culprit is our own Elected Congress. This Congress not only creates such a convoluted mess of statutes and laws, but also makes it impossible to follow them without aggravation. I can assure you that were these Congressional Individuals personally involved in the actual filing and submittals of their own personal taxes, that this situation would of never have occurred. To this end I can only surmise that our tax laws, as created by Congress, is nothing less than an unbridled Monster. One, who requires such a voracious need for manpower and staffing that our own IRS is overwhelmed by trying to meet the most ridiculous needs of Congress. Indeed. Our tax law is equivalent to a cook who is making a post of soup. heads some salt, but it is not enough, so he adds more, then it just isn't quite right... so he adds pepper. Then oregano, and then some chili powder. But the chilli powder masks the salt so he adds more. Each time he adds, he is unable to remove anything from the soup. Eventually the soup becomes undesirable. But so much time and effort has went into the making of the soup that he is afraid to through it away. That is our Congress. The IRS are the Waiters and Waitresses whom have to take the gruff from the Customers for serving this swill to us. You think it is bad. Wait one or two years down the road. I can't see it getting much worse than this. But, it will. I understand that it will take over ten years to change the culture in the IRS. Well, that's too long. But, at least there is a plan to do something about the "culture" of the IRS. However, that is not where the problem lies. That is only a symptom of a much larger problem. The larger problem is the Congressional uncontrolled spending sprees that we have permitted them to have. The full and utter unaccountability that they have when it comes to creating projects and funding the projects and raising the money for the projects. Congress always seems to raise taxes. They always seem to create new laws. They constantly seem to add and replace and consolidate and build upon. They never look back and reflect. We have a huge monster. This TAX code is worse than horrible. It is worse than evil. This tax code must be scrapped. And, the only way that will happen is to make Congress PERSONALLY responsible for it. Not the IRS. But Congress. For a first step I propose that every Congressman and most especially the SENATORS must do their own taxes, and show us, the people that they have done them. I can assure you that one week of non-stop tax preparation will be enough to cause such a fury for change in Washington that it would rival the eruption of Mount St. Helen in ferocity. Congress needs to be help accountable for this travesty. Thank you for listening to my rant. I am quite confident that others will begin to rant as soon as they start to do their taxes. |
Hey, how did you get the friendly form? - I got stuck with the Ugly McNasty one :-)
No, we need One thing: Honest government, and we aren't going to get it. - Ever.
The criminals are in control, and they have written into the law a prohibition against ever kicking them out. - Do you think I'm joking? When the Feds can bomb buildings, and shoot airliners out of the sky with impunity, what chance do we have to get fair taxation?
| Line 1. List the income from the previous year including capital gains, wages, tips, interest income, income from sales, and anything else. | _________ |
| Line 2. Make out a check for the amount on line 1 and send it in. | _________ |
Shalom.
To those who fear the truth, evidence is "strictly tin-foil-hat fodder." to be denied until the collision.
Was Hitlery's picture on it!?!
Bump.
Our system has been referred to as The Full Employment Act for Accountants and Tax Attorneys.
I have supported abolishing the income tax and going to a national value added tax or national sales tax for 25 or 30 years.
Every U.S. citizen is at risk of being made a criminal if he misunderstands the "instructions" and sweats for weeks or months over this annual rite of self-immolation. Consider yourself already having volunteered hundreds of hours toward the U.S. federal government in your lifetime. The waste of productivity, the skewing of the national economy to accomodate the 1040, is appalling.
And that is my comment as you requested.
My comments? I think that's really funny.....LOL.
I'm a CPA and we all got a big laugh out of that one!
Time for a flat tax or national sales tax. If you get rid of the tax code, you'd reduce the need for lobbying significantly. So the tax code isn't just for full employment of tax preparers and lawyers but also, LOBBYISTS!
In all seriousness vannrox, I think you have described the problem of our government as a whole, not just the tax codes.
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