Dear Mr. Internal Revenue Service,

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Dear Mr. Internal Revenue Service

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To Whom it May Concern:

It’s that time again. Maybe I’ll be able to file on time without having to extend (fingers crossed). It’s no secret that I’m not a big fan of you Mr. IRS – or your tax code.

It’s not that I  think we shouldn’t pay taxes. Of course I do. I just think they should be fair (as in The Fair Tax proposal). We have incredible infrastructure and services that I enjoy, and they need to be paid for. But a 72,000+ page tax code is a bit lengthy and complicated, don’t you think? I don’t think it’s a good idea that the code is gray and can be ‘interpreted’ in different ways. I don’t like that if I call you Mr. IRS and ask questions that I would get different answers from different folks. [I’m not blaming you. It’s impossible to know 72,000 pages of information]. I don’t like that the tax code is full of social engineering and attempts to steer our decisions [I’ll buy a house to pay less taxes, I’ll only give to charity to expense it, etc.] I don’t believe that the majority of our decisions are made based on our tax implications, but by default it becomes an added benefit.

But while we have a 72,000 page tax code, we must deal with it. I used to be fearful of you Mr. IRS It wasn’t because I was being dishonest. It was because my image of you was one of those guys from The Matrix wearing suits and dark sunglasses. Pretty terrifying. But, I’ve never actually met you, so maybe this is true?

And I’m not blaming you Mr. IRS, as you’re just enforcing the rules that were handed to you. It was the lobbyists and politicians that keep adding pages to your heavy book of tax codes. Can a person even pick up this 72,000 page book? But I digress.

But I’m not scared anymore. Why not? Because with how complicated the code is, I figure it’s anyone’s game if I ever get audited. Maybe I owe you, maybe you owe me. I’d actually rather never have to find out. But if we ever have the pleasure of meeting you, I hope it to go well.

I wish you well this year. Good luck in your collection services.

Kind Regards, Taxpayer Brooks

_________________ I feel instantly better. Thanks for listening.

Now let’s talk about what I think should be done with the tax code. Yep, my personal opinion. Here it is. Scrap it. Destroy it, and start fresh. Tax our consumption (we consume the American way, this should be easy) instead of our income. This would be done in the form of a national sales tax. Make it fair so that the spending of basic necessities like milk and eggs aren’t included so that the poor aren’t punished for this tax. As people begin to succeed and spend more, they would begin paying more into the tax system. If they succeeded enough to purchase a large boat or a plane then they would pay a larger amount of taxes. Trust me, I’m all about capitalism. This system would be fair. That’s why it has a name. Guess what it’s called. The Fair Tax.

Have you heard of it? If not, I think you should learn about it. I could talk for hours about the Fair Tax (affiliate link to help me pay my taxes), as I tried to punch holes in it over and over but couldn’t do it. It’s so simple that you think it wouldn’t work. But sometimes simple is better. Often times simple is better.

So if you’ve never read the book, I’d implore you to buy it or check out from your library. Then let’s discuss. Leave comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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