Everyone today that lives in the United States pays taxes in one form or another. One of our main benefactors of these taxes that we pay is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). At the end of every year, Americans have to file taxes with the IRS to determine if they have to pay back the federal government and/or state. What if we could reform our current tax system? We should get rid of the IRS by reforming our current tax system and establish a flat tax so everyone is treated equally.
As Americans, we pay taxes in several different ways. One main way we pay taxes is at the end of the year. The IRS goes over taxes that an individual, married couple, or family has paid over the previous year and determines if they have paid too little or too much to the government. Another way we pay our taxes is contributions to social security for those that have retired or are disabled and receiving disability checks from the government.
Our current tax system is rather unfair to those who are working hard at their jobs and paying taxes like they are supposed to. On the other hand, those who don’t work and get funding from the government when they can legally work are taking advantage of the system. For example, an individual named Mary with a husband and three children whom can work. The doctor has told her she is partially disabled and unable to do her current job like bending over or picking up heavy objects. Mary then assumes she is fully disabled and can’t work. She files with the federal government and attaches the doctor’s note stating that she is unable to do her current job anymore. The government then accepts her disability claim and starts to pay her monthly income checks. The government should be suggesting to her that she needs to find another job by a certain date. At the end of the year, she files her taxes using the partial income she earned from her formal job and the income from the government which equals to $34,000. “A family of four, for example, would pay no federal income tax on their first $46,000 of income” (p.24 Forbes). The IRS determines that because Mary’s income doesn’t go over the $46,000 she does not have to pay taxes. She then receives more money from the government because she did not meet the tax bracket and should be credited. For the next several years, Mary continues to collect checks while other Americans pay her taxes so she can stay at home. Through Mary not being proactive in searching for a new job and/or career, she is taking advantage of the current tax system in place. If we were to get rid of the IRS and implement the flat tax Mary would have to pay a tax on anything and everything so that way it would be fair to everyone. This way Americans would not have to supplement her income and not get anything in return.
“The easiest way to get rid of the IRS, as Cruz suggests, is fundamental tax reform. But there are many other great reasons for reforming the code. For one, the tax code has become so unfair, so complex, so burdensome and so costly that we have nothing to lose by changing it radically” (p. A14. Investor's Business. 2015).The fundamental tax reform is the same concept of getting rid of the IRS and establishing a flat tax for everyone. Everyone pays the same amount of tax on everything no matter what. There will be no deliberating and/or arguing on the rich is paying more than the poorer. This new flat tax system that Senator Ted Cruz and several other public officials are purposing to make it fair for everyone.
Tax write-offs can be a good for small businesses and large, however, there are some individuals that abuse it. “Michael pays $115 per night for a double room. A single room costs $90 per night. He can deduct the total cost of driving his car to and from, but only $90per night for his hotel room. If he uses public transportation, he can deduct only his fare” (p.17 Battersby). On standard write-offs, this is correct that is all Michael could write-off. There are individuals and/or businesses that will abuse the system and will write-off the full amount while walking away free and clean. These write-offs are to help businesses grow and utilize what they between business and personal. Regardless whether it is business or personal the write-offs are being abused by too many people which is ruining it for those who are following the laws. This new flat tax will prevent anyone from abusing the write-off part of the tax system.
Americans have heard of the penalty fees that come if an error is made when filing taxes. The IRS sends a letter in the mail stating such error and applies penalty fees if in fact taxes are owed. However, when the IRS makes a mistake we (Americans) do not get to apply penalty fees when tax refunds are due to us. The new flat tax does not have any penalty fees that incur interest when paying taxes. It’s just a flat tax for everyone.
Our current system that we have the IRS is getting away with more than just making errors…they are targeting taxpayers. “296 applications by groups were flagged for further review. About 75 groups had names with "tea party" or "patriot" in them” (IRS Scandal Fast Facts. 2015). The IRS targeting taxpayers makes them look incapable of doing their job and abiding by the tax laws. When an individual(s) from the IRS breaks the law and not be charged for breaking them makes our justice system look weak. Some say attorneys did not have enough hard evidence to show that any laws are broken. However, individuals are being convicted every day on circumstantial evidence with no physical or hard evidence. For example, Lois Learner was brought to congress for questions regarding such targeting based on circumstantial evidence, yet no one from the IRS was not charged for breaking any laws.
There are many errors that are continuing to occur with the IRS. The IRS should catch any mistakes and/or abuse that is made using the audit system in place. “According to IRS auditors, the audit results may be due to challenges such as finding the sources of income within multiple tiers while meeting the administrative tasks required by the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA) within specified time frames. For example, IRS auditors said that it can sometimes take months to identify the partner that represents the partnership in the audit, reducing the time available to conduct the audit” (White, 2014 p.1). The current audit system that is being performed by the IRS is lacking in efficiency and effectiveness. For an auditor to go through an individual, family, married couple, large or small business tax history and finances should not take months.
Reference Page
Investor's Business, D. (2015, January 16). Want reform? Get rid of IRS. Investors Business Daily. p. A14
Forbes, S. (2007). Warren wants to buffet you with higher Taxes.Forbes, 180(11), 24.
Battersby, M. E. (2008). Conventions, trade shows and tax write-offs. (cover story). Paperboard Packaging, 93(3), 16.
IRS scandal fast facts. (2015, April 2). CNN Wire. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CA407981497&source=Bookmark&u=itted&jsid=02de17bbdbeda50013dac99c8026075d
White, J. R. (2014). With growing number of partnerships, IRS needs to improve audit efficiency. GAO Reports, i.
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