I have been preparing my own tax returns for or over 50 years. I have found that filing both Federal and State of Ohio tax returns has been made more and more difficult each and every year. Not only are the regulations becoming more complex, but the ease in which to obtain hard copies of the necessary forms and booklets in order to file non-electronically on your own has all but been eliminated.
This year is the latest in the tax season that I have ever filed. All because neither the national nor the state government routinely mail out the needed materials as they once did, nor do those governmental entities, i.e. the IRS and the Ohio Department of Taxation, make printed copies of the required and needed materials readily available for personal pick up at government offices.
I find the lack of taxpayer service by the taxing authorities to be totally unacceptable. There is no excuse for the national and state governments to put the onus on the taxpayer for obtaining the required and needed materials in order to be in compliance of submitting tax returns. I should not have to run in circles to get the materials I need. Nor, should I have to pay out of my pocket (in addition to the taxes I have already paid) to have those materials printed.
The IRS and the Ohio Department of Taxation are taxing my patience!
Unlike most people I know, I really do not mind paying taxes, I really don't. HOWEVER, it is way past time for a new simplified tax system to be adopted and implemented.
ADDENDUM
"Tax preparation is BIG business – there were 300k people employed at 109k firms in 2012 - generating $9 billion in revenue in 2012. The industry grew over 2% from 2010-2015, and is expected to speed up the pace of growth. Revenues of $11 billion are forecast for 2018. Tax preparation is unusual in that it provides a service to assist with a process that legally every American is required to do: submit an income tax return."
"Intuit is the maker of the top-selling tax preparation program, TurboTax, which retails for as much as $100. H&R Block distributes the second-ranking program under its own name. Both have spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress on goals that include quashing initiatives to promote nearly effortless tax filing."
"... there is growing bipartisan agreement that the tax code is too complicated, burdensome, and uncompetitive, and is undermining our economic potential.
The goal of tax reform is not just to design a simpler tax code but a code that promotes economic growth and ultimately raises the standard of living for every American. However, for many in Washington, tax reform is a mechanical process, not an aspirational one. To the lawyers on the tax writing committees, tax reform is about rearranging subsections of the Internal Revenue Code. To the scorekeepers at Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, it’s about seeing if the numbers add up. To Members of Congress, it’s about balancing the needs of some interest groups over others. Instead, it should be about helping the American people grow the economy.
What is missing from the process is a real sense of who the people behind the tax returns really are. ..."
1 comment:
Preach it, Brother!
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