Newsletter: 4/10/15

Statement

That annual day of dread is looming: Tax Day. Each year it becomes more difficult to figure and pay taxes as the U.S. tax code grows longer and much more convoluted. Studies have shown such a complicated tax code costs Americans $160 billion and 6 billion hours every year.

The complexity of the U.S. tax code is nonsense and only hinders our full potential. There are solutions to this self-affliction. Recently, the House passed its Fiscal Year 2016 budget resolution, setting a framework for a much simpler tax code. The budget balances in nine years without increasing taxes, and calls for the repeal of Obamacare, which in itself is a $2 trillion tax.

Another remedy would be the Fair Tax, which continues to be a measure I strongly support. The Fair Tax would repeal income, corporate, employment and estate taxes and impose a consumption tax on most goods and services. Even better, it terminates funding for the Internal Revenue Service. It also would stop all tax cheats and underground "off the books businesses' from avoiding paying their fair share as we all must. Americans work hard for what they make. Keeping more of what is earned, rather than it being taken, incentivizes work and boosts the economy. The Fair Tax addresses this common sense notion.

All in all, the tax code is more than 4 million words long, or more than seven times the length of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novel series and is not near as interesting. Closing loopholes, which are inefficient and costly, and simplifying the code to lessen the burden on all Americans would all make for an easier read. It is past time to move forward with a truly simple, fair and more uniform tax code to better the American economy and strengthen the nation. I am hopeful we will soon take strides to put these ideas to work and make April 15 just another day on the calendar.

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