Tax Reform in The United States....

I just completed my taxes. After all my deductions, adjustments, credits, etc. I ended up paying about 7.5% of my income to the federal government in the form of income tax. Medicare and Social Security are not included.

The process was long, painful, and despite Turbo Tax, it was quite confusing.

Interestingly, about the same time I was finishing my taxes, President Obama mentioned the federal government's need to live within its means and gave Congress the mandate to simplify the tax code.

So, I can't say that I was completely uninspired by the State of the Union Address this year. It spurred me to develop this idea: The IRS Form 1040 CS (Common Sense). This form not only actually complies with the intent of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1987 (or whatever), but makes congress' job of allocating spending very easy. The taxpayer does it for them!

This way, each person knows exactly how invested they are - and how they are invested - in their "democratic" government. They have a voice in how their tax dollars are spent.

And budgeting is taken out of the hands of Congress and lobbyists. If an environmentalist feels strongly about National Parks, he can allocate more of his taxes to that budget line. If a truck driver feels strongly about the state of our highway system, she can voice that with her allocation.

Taxation with FULL representation.

Everyone pays 10%. Maybe there's a mandatory 1% point buy-in to each of the Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness functions of government. That leaves the taxpayer 7% points to steer toward their interests.

Here's my form (click on it to see a larger image). It's a rough draft, but you get the idea.

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