The current tax code is completely and totally unfair. There is nothing
in it that makes it fair in any way. First of all, as we have seen with
many decades of income tax, trying to tax income is like trying to herd
cats. There is always something more that can be thought of as 'income,
' and that is how income/money gets taxed a zillion times. I.e., my
income comes in, after I've paid federal/state/property taxes, yet then
I have to pay sales taxes on goods, if I die, then my heirs have to pay
inheritance taxes on that 'income', etc., etc.

That most everyone has to hire someone to do their taxes (or spend 20 or
30 or 50 or more hours) to calculate their taxes puts an undue burden on
people. It should be quick simple and easy. Not everyone should be an
expert in a tax code. That is utterly ridiculous. And if one owns a
small business (i.e., owner is the only worker) to hire one person is
not an easy decision. A small business owner can't just hire someone,
pay them, and that's it. They have to worry about a million different
tax implications about it -- so I believe many SB owners think twice
before hiring anyone -- which means that there are fewer jobs out there
when many SB owners would be better served being able to hire someone.
If you are a small business owner and you are completely focused on
trying to figure out how to make money (it is very difficult to launch a
business), you don't also want to spend hours and hours and quite a bit
of money to figure out how to hire someone -- so you would put it off as
long as possible.

In addition, even though there are plenty of laws against not reporting
income, if you are engaged in illegal 'work' you are unlikely to report
your income and pay taxes on said income. Therefore, the law abiding
citizens in this country are left to pick up the tab. That is completely
unfair to those of us who are law abiding and trying our hardest to do
the right thing. If you are being paid 'under the table,' you don't pay
income on your taxes, if you steal, deal drugs, or are involved in other
illegal activity, you don't pay your fair share of taxes, either.

There have been many studies done where a 'sample' tax return was given
to 20 or so tax 'professionals,' and no two of them had the sample
taxpayers paying the same amount of money. Most people want to be good
citizens, but with a tax code as complicated as we have, that seems to
be impossible. In addition, it has been shown that even when people call
the IRS for tax advice, speak with two different people and you will get
two different answers. This shows how horribly inconsistent the code is
and how horribly complicated it is. Yes the system is good for
legislators to be able to give certain industries/campaign
funders/special interest groups tax breaks, but for the average person,
who then gets the tax burden shifted onto them, it is completely unfair.

The idea of the Alternative Minimum Tax (which is neither alternative
nor minimum) may have been good, but the implementation could not have
been worse. More and more people have been paying this tax each year
because the law did not keep up with reality. It is unfairly burdening
the middle class and not at all targeting the so-called rich who it was
supposed to target. The tax cuts that were implemented recently weren't
really tax cuts, as the AMT now hits more people because of them.

I am sure I could go on and on as to the discrepancies of the tax code,
but I believe others will too and I hope that I have highlighted my
major concerns.

Thank you for listening,

Shira Kash

885 Courtenay Drive

Atlanta, GA 30306