Ten
years ago we set for ourselves an ambitious goal: Simplify
our tax code. Today, we still have a long way to go, but
that goal is as important now as ever. The sheer
complexity of our current tax code places an undue strain on
our citizens, our businesses and our economy. It need
not be so; the social security tax is simplicity itself,
collecting billions of dollars with minimal or no paperwork
required by most payers.
It is obvious to even the casual observer that the collection
of revenue to fund our government need not be complex. Hong
Kong, for example, has had a flat tax for years, as have many
of our state governments. Indeed, in the ten years since
our organization was founded, the countries of Ireland,
Russia, and China have all introduced a flat tax. Many
of the Eastern European countries are soon to follow suit.
Russia has even instituted a Voluntary Gross Receipt tax
for small businesses, greatly simplifying business tax
calculation and allowing businesses to forgo any payment of
income tax or value added tax, which is a concept first put
forward in our "Peoples Tax Reform" initiative in
1994.
Simply
stated, our goals are:
1.
To simplify income taxes to the point where employers and
financial institutions can withhold the correct amount of
tax and thereby obviate the need for most citizens to file
annual tax returns.
2.
To establish an alternative income tax system, so that a
taxpayer can choose to forgo the complexities of exemptions,
itemized deductions and credits, and all the required record
keeping that follows, yet still pay the same amount of tax
as every other taxpayer at that income level.
3.
To adjust the taxable portion of income from capital gains,
bank CD’s, taxable bonds and other investment instruments
to account for the loss of principal due to inflation.
In keeping with goal #1, this would be done by
financial institutions without any calculation required by
the taxpayer and would also allow for withholding the exact
amount of taxes due.
It
is our intention to advocate in favor of any legislation which
furthers these goals and oppose any legislation which would
hinder them. Finally, it is our hope that we can educate
and inform the citizens of our state and nation about the
wisdom and benefits of simplifying the tax code and enlist our
fellow citizens in the campaign to achieve this worthy goal.
