Political Quotes

“I rise today to once again introduce my flat tax bill, the Smart, Manageable and Responsible Tax Act, referred to as the SMART Act. In the United States, there are few, if any, days that are viewed with the same resentment and contempt year after year as April 15: national tax day. Our current Tax Code totals more than 70,000 pages, making tax compliance unnecessarily complex, confusing and costly. During the past 10 years, there have been over 4,400 changes to the Tax Code, including an estimated 579 changes in 2010 alone. The inclusion of the additional 1099 tax reporting requirements in the health care reform bill are just one example of the onerous requirements throughout our Tax Code. As we have learned since the passage of these requirements last March, incremental improvements to the Tax Code are not easy. It took Congress over a year to finally agree to repeal the 1099 changes that common sense tells us are essential to alleviating the burdens on small business. Yet our Tax Code is riddled with other similarly ill-conceived requirements. Over the course of a year, individuals spend an average of 26 hours, over half of a work week, preparing for their tax filings. Although this has been standard practice for decades, I do not believe average taxpayers should have to pore over IRS regulations for hours or pay someone to prepare their returns. Unfortunately, under our convoluted tax system they are left with little choice.…”