The
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently apologized for flagging 75 conservative
groups that used terms such as “tea party” or “patriot” in their filings. With
this in mind, how good do you feel about giving the agency more power? If some
in the Obama administration have their way, the IRS will be taking even more
control over your tax returns.
Under a
so-called return-free system, the IRS would send you a pre-filled tax return.
You would either accept the IRS’s determination and enclose a check or receive
a refund, or file your own alternative return. Simple, easy, and voluntary —
they say.
Unfortunately, the rosy scenario the IRS and its allies tout runs
head-first into reality. The IRS is charged with collecting taxes and enforcing
the law when taxpayers don’t comply. The agency has an incentive to maximize
the revenue it collects from a given taxpayer. A taxpayer, meanwhile, has an
incentive to minimize his or her tax burden by taking deductions and credits to
the full extent of the law. If the IRS got into the tax preparation business,
there would be a conflict between its interests and taxpayers’ interests. Don’t
let President Obama’s IRS fool you. A return-free tax filing program is a bad
idea that could double the size of the IRS and expose taxpayers either to a de facto tax
increase or liability for tax evasion. More power is the last thing we should
be giving the Internal Revenue Service. Source
