The Heavy Burden of Our Tax System

-- by Sir Thomas tjsomerset@novagate.com

I recently retired early due to having been downsized out of my job and unable to find another comparable position. I am not eligible for Social Security payments at my present age (54) so I rely entirely on income generated by my investments which consist of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. My present income barely keeps my ship afloat, yet I recently had to pay $188 to have a tax return prepared, and this is half of what my previous accountant charged! In addition to federal tax and state tax, I also had to pay an intangibles tax on the proceeds; I don't remember having voted for an intangibles tax. Now the Federal Government wants to add further complexity to us "rich" capital gains recipients, which will not only cost more in terms of tax return preparation, but will also cost more in tax burden.

This all points out the need for a simple, fair system of taxation that will reduce the burden of taxes and tax preparation for us all. Please help by supporting a consumption tax system which would be fair to all; which would encourage savings and investment; which would help to balance the Federal Budget by eliminating the IRS, and which would eliminate this expensive and cumbersome process of filing tax returns annually. I also propose that at least part of the saving from eliminating the IRS be directed to paying down our National Debt which is costing us more than $900,000,000 per day in interest alone.

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Last change 5/30/96