(This is the second installment of a two part series.)
Guest Editorial
By Suzanne Walters
Part 2
CSW 08-12
Moving on to my hot-button issue, that of taxes in general and income taxes in particular, I get very discouraged that the daily uproar about the gas prices is not duplicated about taxes. I have three ideas as to why there is not similar outrage about taxes.
First, changes in tax policy and rates are buried in literally thousands of pages of tax law, and written in language and jargon that ordinary citizens cannot comprehend. If, however, the changes in the regulations and rates were posted on billboards along the roads, then taxpayers who really pay attention to changing rates such as those in the price of gas could see the change in tax rates as well.
Second, everyone pays the same price for gas. It is not priced according to the year, make, and model of one’s vehicle. If the gas companies could impose a graduated gas price, with the same punitive approach as the IRS, there would possibly be less outrage from the masses because “the rich” would be paying their “fair share.”
Third, the money to pay for a tank of gasoline is visible; the purchaser must reach into his own wallet and watch that money disappear. The IRS is much smarter about the whole thing by implementing withholding. Many taxpayers are unable to state their gross pay each payday, but they do know their net pay. The government has managed to convince people that they will not miss what they never see. How convenient.
I dare say that if taxpayers had to write a check to the IRS each month for income taxes in the same way that I have to write a check to BP, there would be, or hopefully should be, a little more of a uproar.
Is there a solution? In a free society, there is always a solution. However, the solution requires self-control and delayed gratification, as well as a little bit of behavior modification. These are qualities that are not popular right now in our society, so alas, people want a quicker and easier answer. Of course - the government! We will insist that the president do something about it! And sure enough, we have two candidates for president who say they will do just that. The problems with that belong in a much longer letter about history.
