Subject: consumption tax Comment: I read an article today by David E. Rosenbaum that appears in the New York Times today. I am an attorney in Minnesota, I am not a tax expert and do not have the knowledge or expertise that members of the panel have. Nevertheless, in my practice I have become aware of the extraordinarily high number of self-employed individuals, and others, who are cheating on their income taxes. Clearly many Americans think, for one reason or another, that our present system favors others and mistreats them. Somehow this contributes to their feeling justified cheating. In addition we seem to have developed a culture that fosters the belief that our government is made up of individuals that are only seeking to advance their self interest at the expense of others. A tax system that fosters disrespect in its citizens for the government as a whole loses sight of the idea that our government uses taxes to foster the welfare of its citizens as a whole. Too often the IRS is seen as this frightening entity that is out to get us. A consumption tax does not allow anyone to cheat. It taxes everyone according to their income, assuming that we all spend according to our earnings. The actual monetary costs of our current tax system and all its rules must be very high. I expect that the commission has looked at that cost. While any major change is difficult to make, our current system needs far more than a change to the mortgage deduction and health insurance deductions. The more complicated our tax system becomes, the more frequently it changes, and the more often that the impression is created that a deduction is taken is taken away from honest tax payers, the more we harbor ill feelings for the government in our citizens. |