Ron Wyden: “this country is headed toward a total meltdown on taxes. I am going to spend a few minutes this afternoon to talk about…”

“this country is headed toward a total meltdown on taxes. I am going to spend a few minutes this afternoon to talk about how that can be cooled off for a bit. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Paulson warned that unless the Congress acts within the next month on the alternative minimum tax, up to 50 million households, more than a third of all taxpayers, could be clobbered with new taxes. Congress has known for some time that unless the alternative minimum tax is addressed, 23 million taxpayers would be hit with the double whammy of having to calculate their taxes twice, and typically pay a higher tax bill. First, they are going to have to do their taxes using the regular 1040 form; then they will have to calculate their taxes using the alternative minimum tax, which has a completely different and more complex set of forms. Having to do your taxes once is bad enough. On average, that takes something like 15 to 30 hours, depending on whether a taxpayer is itemizing. But having to do your taxes is simply bureaucratic water torture.”