I'm not the kind of guy who thinks we
as individuals shouldn't have to pony up some small fraction of what
it costs to maintain the federal government each year. The term “fair share”
is bandied about a lot. I'm not sure what constitutes fair share. No
one seems to be able pinpoint it. Here's my take: I'm just one
person. It would seem to me determining fair share would divide what
it costs to run the country by the number of people sharing the
protections of the national government, and that would be my fair
share. It would be the same from diapers to the grave. Choosing to
have a family would put the head of household on the hook for picking
up the slack of those in the household too young to work.
Radical; I know. But, apparently, truly fair is a radical concept in our society.
Instead we have a progressive income
tax system in which an individual's share is determined by taxing net
income. The final income amount can be manipulated by capitalizing on
loopholes and deductions within the U.S. tax code that's so thick you
could stand on it to change an overhead light bulb. If you are
clever, or well off enough to be able to afford someone really clever
to put all those loopholes and deductions to good use, you get to pay
less. If not, you are left to pay more, but certainly not a fair
share.
Of course, the rate at which that net
income is taxed is based on an arbitrary sliding scale. The higher
the net income, the more tax is paid. In other words, the more
successful – as measured by net income – an individual is, the
higher rate of tax. Maybe I don't understand what “fair” means. I
looked it up in Webster's dictionary. It defined fair as “marked by
impartiality and honesty
: free from self-interest, prejudice, or
favoritism.” Wait; I did know the definition of fair.
I grapple with this whole income-tax
thing about this time every year. Every April I spend two or three
hours filling in blanks on some online tax program to come up with
what I owe for enjoying the protections of our national government
during the previous year. It almost always seems like a lot. It seems
excessive. It seems punishing. It never seems to fit within the
definition of fair.
My situation is different in many ways
from the typical citizen filing a 1040. For one thing, I'm over 66,
and treated somewhat differently than a younger person working 8:30
to 5:00. I work for myself, which adds yet another twist to the
process. After investing all this time filling out all the required
information about my income and expenses, I am usually facing some
amount to pay. Sometimes it's a shock and sometimes it isn't. It never seems quite fair.
People receiving a W-2 are in a
different boat.
To avoid trying to collect a lump sum
from everyone at the end of the year, the federal government forces
employers to take money out of a employee's pay every pay period and
loan it to them. Every April those employees must go through hours of
paperwork to, in effect, petition the government to repay that loan
minus whatever tax was owned. The government does so, but without
paying any interest on that money. That doesn't seem to quite fit the
definition of “fair,” either.
After filing federal taxes for nearly
half a century, one thing I do know: There's nothing fair about it.
