There's Enough Pain Already

New York Times Op-Ed contributor, Joseph J. Thorndike has a solution to reforming the tax system. Make us lazy schlubs do our own taxes.

When it comes to taxes, pain can be a good thing. It keeps people vigilant, encouraging them to keep a wary eye on government. That, in turn, exposes problems and encourages reform. Making taxes easy removes an impetus for Americans to force the government to do something about the tax code.

If we didn’t have accountants and computer programs, the result wouldn’t be greater vigilance. It’d be greater penalties levied on all us dolts who’d screw up our tax returns without someone or some computer program doing them for us.

The mere fact that we have to pay someone else or buy a computer program to do our taxes is evidence enough that our tax code needs serious revision. Can’t we skip the step where we all have to struggle through our own returns and go right to a system where struggle isn’t required?