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Article published Oct 20, 2003
The current income tax code is too complex and expensive

U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint's plan may not result in a new federal tax code, but it will at least keep the issue before Congress.Federal lawmakers need to be reminded that they have created a monster, a huge, complex monster with a voracious appetite.According to a report by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation: "There are 693 sections of the Internal Revenue Code that are applicable to individual taxpayers, 1,501 sections applicable to businesses, and 445 sections applicable to tax-exempt organizations, employee plans, and governments."The tax code is so labyrinthine that there are hundreds of forms, schedules and worksheets and tens of thousands of pages of regulations.How do individuals and businesses keep track of all these complex rules and forms? They don't. They hire people who have full-time jobs keeping up with the tax code. And even those people aren't familiar with all of it.In truth, an entire industry of tax preparers and accountants has been created to help Americans comply with this overly complex tax code.That imposes a tremendous cost on the population. Not only do we have to pay our taxes, we have to pay someone to help us comply with the tax code.The code is so complex because it is always being changed by Congress in an attempt to reward some constituency or to spur some social or economic change. Congress uses the tax code to push people, businesses and institutions in the direction lawmakers desire. It has become a tool of social engineering.It shouldn't be. Using the tax code to convince people to live their lives a certain way assumes a power that Congress shouldn't have.This overly complex, expensive and intrusive tax system should be replaced with a simpler, more equitable system. The sole goal of this system should be to fund the government.That's the goal of DeMint's bill, which would establish a commission to replacethe tax code much like the commissionCongress uses to close military bases.Congress would establish the commission, then be forced to vote yes or no on its recommendation. Like the base closure process, it's meant to take the politics outof the reform.It's unlikely to succeed. Too many lawmakers are attached to the 45,000-page tax code and the power it gives them. But it's worthwhile just to keep the issue in front of lawmakers. Sooner or later, they may pay attention to the monster they have created and the damage it does to the nation and its economy.