O'Neill Promises Simpler Tax System

WASHINGTON- Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who calls the federal income tax law an abomination, said Thursday the Bush administration is preparing a series of reports on the complexities and will work with Congress on possible solutions for this year.

Virtually since the time he assumed the Treasury post last year, O'Neill has been criticizing the income tax law as a complicated mess that can be indecipherable for many taxpayers, from individuals to big corporations.

But O'Neill's remarks Thursday's to the Chamber of Commerce raised the prospect that the administration would soon start a real push for simplification.

"In the coming weeks, we at Treasury will be producing a series of reports on the complexities of the tax code for individuals, small businesses and for corporations," O'Neill said. "We'll highlight possible solutions to specific complexities and work with Congress to see what we can implement this year."

The tax law requires nearly 1.4 million words, 650 tax forms and 13,000 pages of explanation and increasingly leads more than half of taxpayers to seek professional help.

Despite all the talk about simplification, the laws have only gotten increasingly complicated over the years as tax credits and other breaks are used in place of direct government spending programs.

President Bush's new budget includes a raft of such proposals, including a tax credit for the purchase of health insurance that would require taxpayers to figure out how much they could get based on their income level, family size and whether the policies meet certain standards.

Following a major simplification in 1986, Congress has done little more than hold hearings on simplification, while adding numerous targeted tax breaks.

"Our tax code is an abomination," O'Neill said Thursday, repeating one of his favorite mantras. "Everyone who has anything to do with the tax code agrees it is just an unbelievable mess."

As a case in point, O'Neill said there are five major definitions of a child in the tax law. IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti has said that if he had to file for the earned-income tax credit for low-income families he doesn't think he could do it without professional assistance, O'Neill said.

Treasury will release papers illustrating such "absurdities," O'Neill said, and he called on the Chamber of Commerce to lobby Congress to simplify the law.

Treasury will release papers illustrating such "absurdities," O'Neill said, and he called on the Chamber of Commerce to lobby Congress to simplify the law.

Simplify??? How bout repeal it and start over:

It is long past time to end the Income Tax once and for all,and support the enactment of the only bills before congress that would actually achieve that.

H.R.2525
SPONSOR: Rep Linder, John (introduced 07/17/2001)
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.
Refer: http://www.fairtax.org

the modification then enactment and ratification of:

H.J.RES.45
Sponsor: (introduced 4/25/2001)
Latest Major Action: 5/9/2001 Referred to House subcommitte.
Title: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to abolishing personal income, estate, and gift taxes and prohibiting the Untied States Government from engaging in the business in competition with its citizens.

(Modified to prohibit all income, payroll, gift estate taxes as HR2525 calls for, or we will see European VAT style hidden taxes along with payroll excises to take over in the place of the of the current individual income tax(i.e. personal income tax) that Ron Paul amendment prohibits.)

And to keep em reminded that there is indeed a Constitution to pay attention to:

H.R.175
Sponsor: (introduced 1/3/2001)
Latest Major Action: 2/12/2001 Referred to House subcommittee
Title: To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes.

The individual's tax form under the NRSTof HR252 5 amounts to:

Not only does every family receive a FCA based on family size, not income, but they will also receive 100% of their paycheck:

Fedup Smith makes $39K per year...once the FairTax is the law of the land he will receive an instant increase in pay of $200.00 per week. Since he has a family of four, he will receive a FCA of $445 per month, for a total of $1,305.00 additional income per month that he can do with as he sees fit

Carvile is preparing to call it a scheme to enrich the rich and further enslave the poor.

Alan Keyes' calls the income tax, "The Slave Tax" which should be abolished as a moral imperative, and replaced with a National Retail Sales Tax:

I would personally prefer the NRST H.R.2525 Family Consumption Allowence, proposed to be received by all households, be separated into its own Subtitle under the NRST legislation as it is actually an independant payment of the NRSTl. Actually the title should be something appropriate in recognition of the repeal of the Income Tax (aka Alan's "Slave Tax"). And the allowence renamed accordingly.

My suggestion would be:

"TAX SLAVE REPARATIONS ACT".

Whereas every legal resident has been held in the bondage and perpetual legal jeopardy of the Income/Payroll VAT the NRST proposes to replace and abolish.
Whereas we have all been held captive by an oppressive overlord IRS for many generations now, I believe we are all due reparations for the considerable damage the income tax has done to each of us personally and to this Republic as a whole. If for no other reason, the FCA is thus justified.
Whereas the Declaration of Independence expresses the inalianable right to Life to be protected as a fundamental duty of government, the most basic level that sustains life and the capacity to participate in the nation's economic life (povertylevel), should be compensated for any taxation that would be imposed by the structure of the tax mechanism at that basic level of sustaining LIFE.
I see no justification for not providing, in fact I see a duty to provide, that FCA allowance in compensation for past and future impositions on our basic freedoms any system of tax must inherently exhibit.
Keyes on Taxes & Government Spending:

"The income tax in effect makes us vassals to the government – the politicians decide how much income we can keep. No mere “reform” of this slave tax, such as flattening the rate, can correct its fundamental denial of control over our own money. Only the abolition of the income tax itself will restore the basic American principle that our income is both our own money and our own private business - not the government's."

"Replacing the income tax with a national sales tax would rejuvenate independence and responsibility in our citizens. True economic liberty and moral revival go hand in hand."

"A national sales tax would also put the American citizen back in control of national fiscal policy. The best way to curtail government spending is to cut taxes, because they can’t spend what they don’t get. But with a sales tax, we could deny funds to a spendthrift government – and give ourselves a tax cut – whenever we make the private choice to alter our spending and saving habits."

Alan Keyes Interview with Des Moines Register:

Conservative commentator Alan Keyes said Thursday one of the first things he would do as president would be to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax.

The Republican presidential candidate said he favors a national sales tax of about 23 percent that would also replace the payroll tax that pays for Social Security.

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