The US Tax Quandary

Show uncle sam the money!

Often as we approach April 15 we hear the moans and cries of the dreaded tax victims. My cries are also heard among those lamenting voices. And occasionally you hear the “it is not even in the constitution” that we have to pay taxes. Which is actually true. Then again there are many things that did not find there way into the original constitution that we consider and except as constitutional. And like income tax it came in the form of an Amendment. We are directed to the 16Th Amendment past in July of 1909 for the income tax reality.

Prior to this historical change there were previous attempts to legalize individual income tax. The Revenue Act of 1861 for example was enacted to fund the Civil War. This was repealed in 1871 however. Then in 1894 Congress enacted a flat income tax which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court because the taxes were not apportioned with each individual States population. However by 1913 the 1909 16Th Amendment was ratified and considered in accord with the Constitution. The filing date was originally March 1, then in 1918 it was March 15, until in1954 when the filing date was moved back to April 15.

During the second half of the 20Th century the income tax took on many reforms and things like the Social Security tax were added in 1935. All of this has led to a more complex obstacles and corrupted results. The Internal Revenue Service which President Lincoln assigned to oversee the tax collections in 1861 has come and gone until firmly entrenched in the 1950’s. They have a daunting task that has become a dog and pony show.

If you do moderate research you will find that what the Government plans to get and what they actually get are very different. Also the National Budget is based on projected revenue and not actual revenue. So you see where a problem exists. A monumental problem.

Looks are deceiving.

Then you take into account the extreme measures that corporate and private citizens go to reduce their taxable income. Why it is understandable and reasonable it seems we have long past the practical aspect and purpose of the tax process.

Also there is no denying the total catastrophe we call Government spending. Frankly all this jumbled application of tax collecting is an incentive to waste a colossal load of cash. It breeds corruption. On the other end we have the fraudulent filers who blatantly cheat and lie about their responsibility. Then you have the harsh reality that the every day “Joe and Sally” cannot meet the burden of all their expected taxes because they have things called children or not so good jobs, etc. Usually all of the above. And of course bad budget discipline to go with that reality. But that doesn’t get the money to the government either.