Dennis Trellis, Negosentro | House Republicans and the US President made a promise to put measures in place to ensure that Most Americans can use a postcard to file their taxes. However, it is coming out clear, that American citizens will not be able to do it. Neither will President Trump. When Republican legislators made a promise to overhaul the tax code system last year, they made a commitment that was very bold.
They promised to make the tax filing exercise so comfortable that you could make it on a postcard. The Republicans even went to lengths of offering a simple postcard to help sell the idea. A similar pledge was offered this week by President Donald Trump. He said that his administration would set out a fair and straightforward tax cuts system that would enable a majority of American citizens to file their tax returns on a single piece of paper. The promise was also doubled down by the GOP.
Will it Actually Change?
The reality is hitting hard that despite the real efforts that have been put in place and yielded some success, it wouldn’t be possible to fit the American taxing system for citizens on a postcard. The vast majority of American citizens feel that the tax filing process would not change under the GOP plan to a different system than it is today.
The Republican Tax Bill is over 400 pages, and some Americans even feel that it will complicate the existing tax system. The sophistication of the American tax code system is well known by anyone who files taxes and has become a regular source of complaints. Taxpayers argue that the system wastes a lot of their time which could be utilized in more useful ways.
What Are We Doing For Taxes?
Americans spent tens of billions of dollars and more than 8 billion working hours to file taxes for the last financial year alone. These are resources that small businesses and startups could have utilized in incorporating new technology or a family used to cater for their bills. The tax code system has also made a very lucrative business for attorneys who are helping millions of American businesses cut their taxes.
Due to significant time wastage, politicians have made endless promises to reform the American tax system to a low-code that the average American can understand. Simplifying the tax system is for sound economic reasons. Resources saved through the improved system can be utilized in better ways which would, in turn, spur economic growth.
GOP
The House GOP could take bold steps towards the realization of an efficient tax code for all Americans. However, these tax reforms could also be limited since almost 70% of taxpayers do not itemize their taxes. The actual process of itemization will not be any easier since the plan by the Republicans is set to retain all tax breaks from the current system. The hard reality that is hitting most Americans despite most of them admitting to hating the whole process of filing returns is that filing taxes cannot be done on a postcard. The confusing tax system in the US is seen as a labyrinth of taxes by most Americans. However, from a professional perspective, it can offer a lot of tax breaks to working American Families.
The tax breaks amount to an estimated one billion dollars in total. The system also has rules that are designed to prevent the avoidance of taxes which becomes very hard to attack politically.
Conclusion
Each tax break offered by the tax code has its group of citizens to protect despite having additional complications. Republicans have for the past few weeks learned this lesson the hard way. The House Republicans fought to have the local and state tax deductions repealed. However, the move received a significant setback when Republicans from New Jersey and New York rebuffed the efforts by their colleagues.
The legislators from the two states argued that their constituents enjoyed tremendous benefits from the tax breaks that were being repealed. The bill also slims down the deduction on mortgage interests and maintains the current deductions for charitable organizations.