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You can thank Grover Norquist[1] for that. The Taxpayer Protection Pledge [2] that he promulgates to US republican lawmakers is the primary mechanism though which those legislators justify blocking simplification and streamlining of tax filing. If it's easier for people to pay taxes the government will probably ask for more cash if we implement those systems, right? Therefore it must be blocked according to the pledge! The logic is airtight!

Ironically in reality this is actually pretty much the opposite of taxpayer protection and amounts to additional tax paid to private corporations on TOP of our existing taxes.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform#Taxpa...

discuss

chrisfinazzo|5 years ago

Theoretically, the ideas he's talking about make sense. If say, you're a single person w/ no dependents who doesn't itemize making the process much simpler is attractive.

However - as Ted Cruz showed everyone - being able to do your taxes on something the size of a postcard is only possible if just about every specific deduction is cut out.

Once people saw that, it was DoA.

Also, while I'm here, can someone explain what was supposed to replace the IRS in Cruz's plan? (State Governments?) I mean, somebody has to administer and manage this process, however simple it might be.

rtkwe|5 years ago

Even then 90% of the 1040-EZ is instructions on how to actually use the form. If you cut all that out and just have the boxes to fill with labels it's not much bigger than the post card it's just needlessly hard to file.

justin66|5 years ago

> Theoretically, the ideas he's talking about make sense.

You'll want to be very clear about which of his ideas "make sense." You're talking about the guy who equates estate taxes with the Holocaust.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=145298...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2004/01/06/o...

> Also, while I'm here, can someone explain what was supposed to replace the IRS in Cruz's plan?

It wasn't meant to be good government, or even tenable government. It was an idea designed to appeal to stupid people. That is all.

(The failure of such a stupid idea to actually work or be implementable could be spun politically. The spin wouldn't have to be especially plausible, either, because, you know... stupid people)