Monday, May 4, 2009

Rid yourself of income tax-induced headaches!

By Lisa Farrar Wellman

Even if we’re getting money back from the IRS, I dread tax season. It literally hurts my brain.

Now, first, I should mention that we’re beyond cheap. We do not hire someone to do our taxes for us. No, sir. We do them ourselves and by “we” I mean my husband does them and I bring him ice tea and rub his shoulders now and then. My job is to glean necessary documents from our filing cabinet and to duck at the appropriate times when he tosses things around in frustration. (Since becoming parents, my job also includes making sure our daughter is out of harm’s way, as well).

We don’t necessarily understand any of what we’re doing. We struggle along, make phone calls to my parents and mostly depend on a service like H&R Block online or Turbo Tax to guide us through the ridiculous ins and outs of the IRS masterpiece. Now and then we drop to our knees to ask God’s guidance but I swear I hear Him laughing at us.

I should just accept our fate and live with it. Taxes are here to stay. There’s no escape….or is there?

Picture this. You just lived through your very last tax season. Next year, the IRS won’t come knocking at your door. Does that sound too good to be true? Of course it does, but it could be reality if we put our voices together and make it happen!

I give you…Fair Tax. (Ok, I’m not giving it to you. I think technically Neil Boortz gave it to us but go with me here). If you haven’t heard of Fair Tax, first lift the rock that must be squishing you into the earth and crawl out from under it. Then, go to the Internet! Simply visit www.fairtaxhub.com to find information on literally every aspect of this ingenious plan.

Fair Tax eliminates the need for an IRS (now, that right there makes my little thrifty heart sing) because it does away with income tax! A federal sales tax funds our beloved government while you, my friends, take home your entire paycheck. You only pay taxes on the stuff you buy and the services you use. And as if that’s not groovy enough for anyone, it gets better. Those living below the poverty level will not pay taxes at all. Fair Tax “abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax -- administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.” –www.fairtax.org

Have a look at this Fair Tax commercial to get a general idea of the plan that could rock our nation and save our brains from the trauma of tax season.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There has been a lot of news regarding the tax failure of certain people, and while I do not want provide too much cover for their behavior, I think it is apparent to everyone who pays taxes that are tax system is beyond difficult.

I totally support either a flat tax or a national sales tax. There are a few problems with this thought process though. The first problem is the politicians and the establishment that gleans their livelihood from the current fiasco. They will be tough to throw off.

The other thing that needs to be considered is whether we tax basic services such as food and health care. And how does the government foster an industry that they think is important to the long term health of the nation?

I am not sure that Obama has the political might to get this done, but I do know that Progressives and Liberals agree with you on this point.

Oh... I totally support a lower sales tax for American made products (protectionism I know, but I would love to see more quality American made products), and no sales tax for active military (nice pay boost for anemic pay).

Peace.
Rick Beagle

Laura Adelmann said...

Great post! The word needs to get out about Fairtax. I've broached the subject with many of my friends and the misconceptions about the topic or the plain ignorance of the idea is amazing. I believe the more people come to understand Fairtax, support will grow. I'll keep hoping.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I forgot to mention - it looks like most of the links are broken in the article.

Lisa said...

I think I got all the links fixed! Thanks for letting me know!

Laura, I know. It's amazing how many people won't even LISTEN when I mention Fair Tax or who have never, ever heard of it. Lots of our friends don't think it'll ever happen so then they don't even want to TRY to make it happen. It seems like a dream come true to me! I'm going to keep talking/writing about it!

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