Ehrlich on Washington column, April 13, 1997

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1407 York Rood, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Week of April 13, 1997 THE U.S. TAX SYSTEM: TOO COMPLEX, TOO BUREAUCRATIC, AND JUST UNFAIR For American families, April brings mixed emotions-baseball’s opening day, the joys of Spring, and Tax Day 1997. The struggle to pay and file taxes is far too burdensome. Taxes are too high, and our tax system is too complex. Each year, we pay more and more in taxes; each year we hear the same complaints and horror stories about the IRS. But this burden doesn’t have to be passed on to the next generation. We can have a fairer and simpler tax system that is easy to understand and does not run the bank account dry. There are alternatives to the forms and regulations and complexity of the current system — any of which would be preferable to the mess we have legislated into existence over the past few decades. This complex and burdensome system requires 136,000 employees at IRS and other governmental agencies to administer our tax laws. Moreover, $13.7 billion is spent by the IRS and other government agencies in enforcing and overseeing this cumbersome tax code. Moreover, the IRS is among the most wasteful of federal agencies. According to a Cato Institute study, the IRS gave out 8.5 million wrong answers to taxpayers seeking help with the tax code in 1993. And not everyone who has a question can get through to the IRS’ “800" number. Last year, almost 80% of people who tried calling this number failed to get through.