Now that the endless flyers promoting post-Christmas bargains are dwindling in the mail box, the vacant space is being filled with large envelops with bold letters announcing Important Tax Information.
This always reminds me that the IRS says millions ignore paying income tax year after year but nothing ever seems to happen to them. If you register your occupation as “Gangster” on your return and are expecting a refund, I suspect an agent will be calling. But for the average citizen, not much happens. That’s too bad since there untold billions of uncollected taxes out there.
This is not a suggestion to follow such a practice. On the other hand there are public-minded citizens like Warren Buffett who say they are pleased to pay their taxes for the privilege of living and doing business in America.
We may well have grievances with how the government spends our money but one can scarcely imagine the outcry if the infrastructure of our civilization suddenly collapsed because no one was attending to its daily operation and maintenance. Those who would do away with income tax seem to think we could look after it ourselves. I can just hear the neighborhood phone tree calling volunteers to repair a sagging bridge or a leaking tunnel.
One of the few pleasantries of the tax season is the refund. The Mensa Society holds a yearly contest which consists of changing one letter in a word and making up a new definition. My all-time favorite is “Intaxication.” It is defined as the feeling of euphoria one gets when the tax refund arrives. It lasts until you realize it was your money all along. Please don’t fall for the scam of having a “tax service” advance your refund. It will take a huge bite out of the check that is entirely yours.
There is virtually no one who thinks the IRS doesn’t need some turning up. There are loopholes large enough to drive an entire state through and there seems little chance that any of them will be closed. The powers that profit from them also remind Congress that money votes; remember Citizens United v Federal Election Commission. In the eyes of some that was the worst Supreme Court decision since Dredd Scott in 1857.
Recently one such loophole has caught the public eye and that is the tax-exempt status of the NFL. They, and possibly other professional sports organization, are covered by a provision in the 501(c) 6 IRS regulations classifying them as trade organizations and thereby tax exempt. The public has seized on that as an outrage, but if one reads the documentation it covers only the administrative offices of the league. The astronomical profits of the individual NFL teams are taxed. Now, whether the Commissioner’s salary of almost 30 million dollars is taxed, I have no idea. One would hope so. Taxing the NFL office would yield about 10 million dollars a year, but it could also mean than all trade organizations would lose their exemption.
The tax code is thousands upon thousands of pages long and I would doubt that anyone understands it. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be addressed and one of the simplest would be a system to make sure that everyone who owes tax, actually pays it.
So when all your 1099 forms are in, all your charitable contributions toted up, all the allowable deductions itemized, then send your 1040 form. If you’re lucky, you may find yourself “intaxicated.” If you owe money, be grateful for the goods and services it pays for, then be sure to vote for someone who will look out for fraud or abuse as well as simplifying the tax code and closing loopholes.
In the meantime, don’t blame the NFL. That’s peanuts compared to what is lost when ordinary citizens ignore their responsibilities. Professional football has more than enough trouble on their hands with concussions and the like.
– Hayden Hollingsworth
