Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

The Income tax: Fostering 100 years of class warfare

4/10/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Monday isn’t just any income tax deadline. It ends a century of income taxes in the United States. Think of it as putting the bracket on a parenthesis that ends the first chapter of a never-ending experiment in class warfare.

If that doesn’t make you feel happier as you drop that envelope in the mailbox or hit the send button, nothing will.

You’re certainly not likely to be smiling at the thought that the more than $2 trillion the government will collect today won’t come close to covering what it spends. Nor are you likely to skip to the mailbox knowing the process of filing your return was easy.

The tax code now includes about 4 million words, and Americans annually take more than 6 billion hours, combined, to do the paperwork.

The only possible reason to brighten up tomorrow may be the realization that the automatic budget cuts known as “sequestration” have hit the IRS just as hard as other government agencies.

But then, that probably won’t reduce your chances of being audited. It’s more likely to lengthen the time it takes to receive your refund.

Is this what those esteemed politicians of 1913 had in mind?

I don’t know, but they should have known what they were getting into.

The income tax has always been about taxing the rich. When the Lincoln administration first got Congress to impose one to cover the expenses of the Civil War, it had started with a top rate of 3 percent. Within two years, that rate was at 10 percent. One can almost imagine the calls for the wealthy to pay their fair share. That tax disappeared in 1872, which says a lot about 19th century sensibilities, but it was never far from mind, returning in 1894 until the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional.

I spent about an hour this week with the mayor of Mesa, Ariz., Scott Smith. He came to the Deseret News editorial board as head of a group called Fix the Debt, which is urging a bipartisan solution to the nation’s mounting fiscal crisis. The group is championed by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of the group President Obama commissioned, then ignored, during his first term.

As we talked, it became clear to me that two mountainous obstacles stand in the way of politicians in Washington getting something meaningful done.

One is that the nation is becoming increasingly polarized. Only a small percentage of congressional elections each year are competitive. Most are dominated by one party or the other, meaning that the people elected tend to represent the extreme voices in their parties.

The other is the tremendous pressure put on Washington by special-interest groups, and often these are tied to one or another of the many deductions, credits or breaks provided for in the income tax.

Smith told me how Mesa had to deal with huge deficits when he assumed office at the height of the great recession. He and his city council were able to decide on a path forward, setting politics aside, in part because they didn’t face pressures from those interests.

As with other officials I’ve spoken with lately, he and the Utah politicians with him said everyone in politics knows what must be done to save the nation fiscally, but it will take political courage no one seems to possess.

And part of what is needed is real tax reform.

Back in 1913, the Wall Street Journal carried a headline that said, “Confusion over income tax is now worse confounded,” as lawmakers argued over what ought to be considered income and whether certain things should be deductible.

If they only knew.

While defenders of the income tax are correct to note the world has yet to invent a popular tax, and while it is possible Washington would have made overspending a habit even without the 16th Amendment, it seems evident that Washington’s problems, and its ability to solve those problems, are a lot more complicated because of it. The income tax has divided us by salary and wealth in ways difficult to overcome.

That’s a lot to consider as you seal up that envelope.

301521_Be Green 468x60
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.