Issue Position: Overhaul and Simplify the Tax Code

Issue Position

It is hard to describe how bad the Washington politicians have screwed up the federal tax code.

A study by Money Magazine showed that even experienced tax professionals fail to fully understand the tax code. More than 1 in 4 IRS employees, including IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman himself, admits to using a paid tax preparer instead of doing their own taxes.

If tax professionals or the IRS Commissioner himself cannot understand this Washington-created monstrosity, how could the average senior citizen or small business owner in Ohio understand it?

The tax code is not only complex, it is unfair. The loop-holes and giveaways created by Washington politicians allow big corporations like General Electric to pay nothing in taxes despite making billions in profits. The public is also frustrated by the fact that only half of Americans even pay the income tax, and that the federal taxes we pay only fund about 60% of what the Washington politicians are spending.

Josh Mandel's Plan says no more gimmicks, no more special deals for politicians and their well-heeled friends, and no more short-sighted games that make good headlines for politicians, but burden taxpayers with a job-killing tax code that is even more complex and less fair.

There are several good tax reform ideas under discussion. The Josh Mandel Plan starts with tearing up the cur-rent tax code and starting over with a system that is simpler, fairer and flatter. Such a system will do more to stimulate the private sector economy than any new program the Washington politicians can dream up.

Common Sense Solutions
Scrap the tax code and start over. Move to a flatter, fairer income tax with only one or two brackets, eliminating almost all of the credits, exemptions and loopholes.

Remove the uncertainty. Stop the temporary tax changes that hurt the ability of job creators to make long term plans.

Eliminate the death tax. Permanently.

Help job creators. Reduce capital gains and corporate taxes, and allow for a small business income deduction.

Washington Failures
The incessant need for more power and control in Washington has led the Washington politicians to grow the code from 400 pages to 73,000 pages. They have made more than 4,400 changes to the code in the past ten years alone, not including the changes that will be required by the federal government's takeover of our healthcare system. At 3.8 million words, the tax code is now five times longer than the Bible, and still growing.

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