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WASHINGTON - Most Americans think federal income taxes are too complicated, but they're not eager to simplify tax preparation by getting rid of some deductions and tax credits, according to an AP-Ipsos poll. Forty-five percent of those polled support eliminating them, while 51 percent oppose that approach. Millions of Americans are scrambling to meet the April 15 tax deadline. Many acknowledge they dread preparing the tax forms. "Anybody who says they don't mind their taxes is lying," said businessman William Long of Ferris, Texas. "I definitely put them off until the last minute, even when money is coming back. I...

Greenspan Calls for Simpler Tax Code Calling the existing U.S. tax code overly complex with an "overlapping web of deductions and exemptions, " Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan suggested a consumption tax could spur more personal savings and economic growth. Greenspan spoke Thursday before an advisory panel on tax reform appointed by President Bush. He referred to the last tax code overhaul in 1986. "Changes since the 1986 act have been largely incremental without the appropriate all-encompassing context that broad reform brings to the table," Greenspan told the group, according to The New York Times. "It is perhaps inevitable that,...

THERE THEY GO AGAIN! President George W. Bush and the Republican Party are determined to overhaul the tortuous federal tax system just in time for both the 20th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's 1986 tax act and next year's mid-term elections, which could see both parties fighting over large numbers of open seats. Bush promised in his State of the Union address to deliver a tax code that is "pro-growth, easy to understand and fair to all." The current code is so ponderous that it is driving an alarming number of taxpayers to underreport their incomes or not report incomes at...

Panel to Review U.S. Tax Code By Warren Vieth, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — A presidential commission today launched what it promised would be a top-to-bottom review of the U.S. tax code, but acknowledged that it might make more sense to modify the income tax than to try to replace it. Members of the president's advisory panel on federal tax reform said all options were on the table, including proposals to replace personal and corporate income taxes with variations on a national sales tax. "The president is committed to major tax reform, to real tax reform, to something more than...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Asked when he was near death to name things he regretted not doing, Andrew Jackson said: ``I didn't shoot Henry Clay, and I didn't hang John C. Calhoun.'' President Bush, who seems determined to leave office with nothing undone -- except, maybe, horsewhipping Harry Reid -- vows to transform not only Social Security but the hydra-headed tax code.</p>

WASHINGTON - Some leading Republicans in Congress are weighing whether to take a chance this year on a massive legislative package that would overhaul Social Security and the income-tax code at the same time - a challenge of historic proportion that could lead to sweeping changes throughout American society. Republicans have reached no consensus on the question, which would disrupt President Bush's preferred schedule of taking on Social Security first and tax changes later. The issue is expected to be one of the main topics that Republican lawmakers will debate during a retreat this week at the Greenbrier hotel and...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Friday called streamlining and reforming the U.S. tax code an "essential task for our country," but offered few hints of how he intends to get it done. Treasury Secretary John Snow said "everything's on the table," including possibly the popular home mortgage and charitable deductions and a former senator leading a tax-reform panel for Bush said that a national sales tax or flat tax also could be in the cards. "I am firm in my desire to get something done," Bush said at the end of a White House meeting with former Sens. Connie Mack,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Friday appointed two former senators -- Florida Republican Connie Mack and Louisiana Democrat John Breaux -- to head a panel to come up with recommendations on reshaping the tax code. snip Bush said Mack, the chairman, and Breaux, the vice chairman, would lead an effort to come up with recommendations on how to make sure the tax code "encourages economic vitality and growth," instead of discouraging it and requiring Americans to spend billions of hours filling out tax forms. snip The tax panel is to look at a broad array of options, ranging from...

A C-SPAN look-in on President Bush’s challenge on tax reform featured two bright and experienced young scholars, libertarian in outlook. Mark Henrie, from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and Doug Bandow, appearing under the auspices of the Cato Institute, acknowledged that Mr. Bush’s reforms would not be shaped by fundamentalist models. Thoughtful reformers in the recent past have focused on alternative approaches to tax reform radical in character. The first would eliminate the progressive feature of the income tax — Rockefeller and his chauffeur would both pay 15 percent of their income. The second goes further, eliminating not only the...

Bush Plan Could Imperil Tax Write-Off for New York By IAN URBINA December 27, 2004 As the Bush administration looks to revamp the tax code, New York officials say they are particularly worried about one idea being considered: eliminating the federal deduction for state and local taxes. If the president pursues this plan, New York State would lose about $37 billion per year in federal tax deductions, more than almost any other state, according to Internal Revenue Service data. The change would affect about 3.2 million households in New York, three-quarters of which are middle- and low-income, tax records indicate....

We're on the NAACP's side.Kweisi Mfume recently announced his departure as NAACP President, and not a moment too soon. His tenure has been a disaster for the storied civil rights organization, driving it deeper into liberal irrelevance. But that doesn't mean it still shouldn't be defended against the current IRS probe of its tax-exempt status. Back in October the NAACP was informed that it may have violated a law that prohibits charities, churches and other nonprofits from engaging in partisan activities. Under Mr. Mfume and chairman Julian Bond, the group has accused President Bush of being at war with black...

WASHINGTON — As President Bush lays the groundwork for a possible overhaul of the U.S. tax code, one option under consideration would deal its biggest financial blow to citizens of blue states such as California and New York. Some conservative activists are urging the Bush administration to scrap the federal deduction for state and local taxes as part of a broader plan to revamp the nation's tax system. Although the proposal would hurt some taxpayers in nearly every state, it would hit hardest in states with higher-than-average income levels and bigger-than-average state and local tax burdens. High on the list...

Bush to Push Economic Agenda at Conference WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush will host a conference Dec. 15-16 to promote top items on his economic agenda, including overhauls of Social Security and the tax code, restraining federal spending and improving health care and education. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Cabinet members and outside business leaders will participate in the forum at the White House, said spokesman Scott McClellan. Roughly a half-dozen panels will tackle various issues to ensure "America is the best place in the world to do business and how we secure our economic future for our children and...

In our current tax system (a graduated income tax) not everyone pays in a manner that is neutral.

An official says all provisions will be examined by a reform panel. Many experts think Bush will favor a piecemeal approach. As the White House prepares to name a blue-ribbon panel on tax reform, the labyrinthine U.S. revenue code could face the first top-to-bottom rewrite since President Reagan closed loopholes and slashed income tax rates on a historic scale in 1986. "This is a fundamental look at the entire code, every component of the code," a senior administration official said late last week. "Nothing is off the table." "Simplification would be the goal," Bush said Thursday during his first postelection...

What is best for America is to tax consumption instead of production. If all taxes were from sales tax, those who pay nothing would start to pay their fair share. Drug dealers, hookers, illegal aliens and others working for cash would pay tax with every Ford or Ferrari purchased. We could have the same goods and services from the government and PAY LESS TAX after shifting all taxes from income to consumption. In addition, that would reward saving - interest and dividends would no longer taxed. The saving rate in the US is far too low and needs to be...

Taxes: President Bush caused quite a stir by saying a consumption tax is an "interesting idea that we ought to explore seriously." Well, why not?Not that we advocate a consumption tax — also known as a national sales tax — but it's nice to hear some discussion about overhauling our tax code, which has become an absurd disgrace.As the chart shows, there are now nearly 50,000 pages of federal tax rules. That makes our tax code larger than the Encyclopedia Britannica — and far more complex.This is more than just a shame. It's an epic waste of time and money....

WASHINGTON (AP)--Administration officials denied Wednesday that U.S. President George W. Bush is considering a national sales tax, a day after the Republican incumbent said such a tax is "an interesting idea that we ought to explore seriously." "The president has always believed in lower taxes and a simpler, fairer tax code," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. But, he added, "There's nothing more to announce at this time." Later, two administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Bush wasn't considering a national sales tax. Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry suggested Bush's comments - made to a supporter...

In the last few weeks, talk of President Bush's soon-to-be unveiled second term economic agenda has shifted, for the first time in a long time, to a discussion about fundamental tax reform. First there was the release of Speaker Hastert's new book in which the Illinois republican explains that taxes account for 23 to 27 percent of the cost of our goods and services, putting our corporations at a competitive disadvantage with our trading partners. Thus, he argues, "For us to return capital and jobs to the United States, we're going to have to change our present tax system and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- A report Monday that in his upcoming book House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., endorses the elimination of the Internal Revenue Service and replacement of the current tax code with a national consumption tax or flat tax as a top GOP priority in a second Bush administration should come as no surprise, considering that conservative Republicans have been pushing such ideas for years. The Drudge Report's brief on Republican plans for eliminating the federal revenue-collection agency and the laws it enforces in favor of a national sale tax, value-added tax or even a flat tax rate...