Our government at work

Lisa hands me a letter from the IRS with a snort. What now? She's not the snorting type, so this should be good, or bad, as the case may be. The last letter I received from this paragon of governmental efficiency said I underpaid my 2006 federal income taxes by $400 and that a $40 interest penalty was assigned. My accountant admitted the error and covered the $40 interest penalty.

Apparently the interest on the $400 underpayment was only $39.68, and that I had a refund due of $0.32. $0.32! Wow, imagine what I could do with $0.32. Why, I could send a lette... wait a minute. The IRS sent me a letter telling me I could send them a letter to recover $0.32? Not only me, but Lisa too. I check the envelope; first-class presorted postage, which is $0.394. So let me get this straight--the IRS spent $0.788 in postage alone to tell Lisa and I that we can spend $0.42 to request a $0.32 refund? Are these people daft? Is this all part of the USPS welfare program? Yes, I know this is all automated and no one really made the decision to issue we serfs... err, taxpayers, a $0.32 refund, but then someone had to program the IRS Tax-o-tron 9000 with this bit of logic. I won't even get into the cost of materials, e.g. paper. It's ludicrous.

I'm not a tax expert. I've had all of two law classes in tax, which probably makes me as qualified as the next guy to work at H&R Block, but it's a vast, exceedingly complex field and I am a bear of very little brain. But from what I can tell, the tax system in this country is f'ed up (and my choice of words and contractions is so damn clever and works on so many levels that I just had to point it out parenthetically). We tax the fruits of our labor and the government gets the first fruits before we ever see a dime. It's sorta like tithing. And we tax when we give, either by gift or in death, the underlying principle being that we don't want future generations to have it too easy, which strikes me as institutionalized class envy. We've certainly gone out of our way to make a function of the government adversarial to the interest of the people. I blame Woodrow Wilson, a liberal fascist if there ever was one, but I digress.

For a country that prides itself on its industriousness, our tax system stands at odds with what we value. So, why don't we tax something that most refer to with derision, that being consumerism? Why don't we simply impose a national sales tax in lieu of a personal income tax? I don't think most people refrain from purchasing something simply because of the local or state sales tax, though people will shop online to avoid it. Let's close the loophole and charge a flat 5% for everything purchased except maybe basic food stuffs. No more filing annual tax returns. No more hunting for deductions. No more silliness on the part of the IRS as to under or overpayment. You keep what you make and you're taxed on what you spend, and if you spend less and keep more, then maybe this country won't have the credit issues and problems with healthcare and housing costs. Maybe.

In any case, I'll pass on my $0.32 refund. Consider it a gift, Uncle Sam, pursuant to Sec. 170(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.