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.