The mailbox shows that nobody understands whom to blame for today's complicated and ever-changing tax law.

 

Question: I nearly went blind reading the fine print on my tax return, and those stupid, contradictory instructions made me crazy. And why do they keep changing things? Why can't the IRS make things simple? --Headache in Hernando

 

Answer: All taxpayers feel your pain, Headache. The complex law “continues to be the most serious and burdensome problem facing America 's taxpayers,” says the Taxpayer Advocate. Former house majority leader, Dick Armey (R-Texas), said, “There is no fairness or justice in a tax code that only highly paid accountants can understand.”

 

But the IRS can't do anything about it; only Congress can change the law. Instead of simplifying the code, the legislators complicate it. Every year Congress increases deductions as gifts to groups to show voters how responsive it is to public demands. For example, education credits for parents, fast depreciation deductions for businesses and medical savings accounts for those without health insurance. Then it must decrease deductions for someone else to offset the money drain to the U. S. Treasury. Remember when you are poring over piles of unintelligible tax forms, thank Congress and the President for your headache.

 

Question: I read that IRS collections are down and that the IRS didn't even try to collect from 1.3 million taxpayers who owed $16 million. I bet if I tried to get away without paying taxes, I'd be audited in a flash. Why can't IRS agents do their job? -- Mad in Memphis

 

Answer: I'll bet if you didn't pay your taxes, you would really be mad when the IRS caught you. It does catch up with most delinquents eventually – and your back taxes would have penalties and interest attached. Besides, who wants to risk an audit? No amount of tax money is worth that!

 

Sadly, however, it is true the IRS is chasing fewer tax cheats. Here again taxpayers should be mad at Congress and the President, not at the IRS. A few years ago, Congress reformed the tax law to placate the press and some mistreated taxpayers. This law put a damper on audits and collections. Now five years later, lack of compliance with tax laws is one of our most serious problems.

 

The law did reduce IRS harassment. In short, Congress made it hard for the IRS to do its job, and now Congress and others are harassing the IRS for not doing its job. Only in America , huh!

 

Question: Hooray for congress and the President! They hit the rich with lots of extra taxes. I like that change. - - Jubilant in Jonesboro

Answer: You are probably referring to the Alternative Minimum Tax that was supposed to sock just the rich. The purpose was to establish a second tax law to prevent the very rich who didn't owe taxes, about 200 at the time, from escaping income taxes. They had eliminated taxes by using legitimate deductions allowed by Congress. But because of the way the law was written C again badly C by Congress, for 2003 about 2.4 million taxpayers will be subject to this second tax law C most of them consider themselves not-so-rich. The AMT is hitting the middle C income taxpayers because it disallows their important deductions: personal exemptions, standard deduction and state and local taxes. The Taxpayer Advocate says that by 2008, the AMT will be raising more revenue than the regular income tax. Jubilant, as your income creeps up, you may start paying the tax.

 

Comment: Congress did come up with a good idea a few years ago: The taxpayer's advocate department. It takes complaints when normal IRS procedures aren't working or an IRS employee is out of line. It's working; when you need help, try it. Call (1-877-777-4778). It also proposes administrative changes to the IRS and legislative changes to Congress. But, does Congress listen?