Russ Feingold: “I rise to speak on a report issued yesterday by the Joint Committee on Taxation and hearings that are being conducted…”

“I rise to speak on a report issued yesterday by the Joint Committee on Taxation and hearings that are being conducted today in the Finance Committee on the subject of tax simplification. Last week, on April 16, millions of Americans mailed their tax returns, completing the last step in a process that many found arduous, burdensome, and needlessly confusing. The tax code has become increasingly complex since its last major reform in 1986. Taxpayers grow increasingly frustrated filling out their returns or are forced to pay others to prepare their tax returns for them. The government has thus imposed a kind of tax on paying taxes. In response to this complexity, most people have apparently thrown up their hands and paid others to fill out their returns. The Internal Revenue Service recently estimated that through the first week of April, about 57 percent of all individual income-tax filers used paid preparers. That rate was up from 56 percent last year. Paid tax preparers report that they did a booming business this year. Through March 30, H&R Block's revenue for tax preparation services rose by more than 10 percent over last year, to $1.5 billion. Its average fee rose to about $109. Aside from using paid preparers, to avoid tax complexity, many Americans forgo tax benefits to which they are legally entitled.”