For some time now, the IRS has been flirting with what’s called a return-free system. Instead of you having to sit down and fill out your 1040, the IRS would fill it out for you and tell you how much you owe.
It’s being touted as a time-saver. But it would also raise taxes on the poor. No matter how much personal information the IRS collects on someone, it is almost certain to miss deductions that person qualifies for.
There is also the tiny little conflict of interest that occurs when one’s tax collector is also one’s tax preparer. In an op-ed in The Hill, I explain why people of all political stripes should oppose a return-free program:
A return-free tax system has something for everyone to hate. Progressives should be up in arms over its disproportionately hurting the poor. So should privacy advocates; the IRS does quite enough snooping as it is. And conservatives should oppose return-free because, even though tax rates would remain unchanged, it is still a tax increase.
There are much better ways to reduce the 26-hour burden Americans face every year. The obvious solution is to simplify the 70,000-page tax code.
Read the whole thing here.
Inertia Wins! 