You know that whenever “quick,” “easy,” and “IRS” are used in the same sentence, the author is spouting total bullshit, right? Right. Two and a half hours into doing my taxes on Turbo Tax, I was asked to call the IRS for something “quick” and “easy.” Actually, I had to call the IRS twice, once for myself and once for my Sweet Lady. The first call took five or six attempts on three different phones to get everything to work right. I shit you not, three different phones. Having spent 20 minutes getting trained on the process, the second call took 3 and a half minutes for 30 seconds worth of information.
Let it be stipulated that I am not complaining about paying taxes. I am complaining about filing my return. Last year, remarkably, I only had one job. That means only one W-2, plus my Sweet Lady’s. (She’s been at the same job for pushing 10 years, which baffles me.) Two W-2s, plus a teeny little mutual fund. Oh yeah, and our checking account earns interest. You could say it makes bank, except that for all of last year it was a total of like $60. Still, $60 is $60.
That is, coincidentally, about what I made doing some writing on the side. I wasn’t really trying, but it was fun to get some scratch for something I scratched out. I report that like a good boy and get hit with a whole host of questions about my business expenses. Very tempting, but I did not write off the new computer that way. Or the camera. Or the website expenses. I could have. Instead, I had to click through a ton. of. freaking. questions. And more questions.
And I get why all of the questions are there. We have built this whole tax structure that is trying to do all sorts of things that tax policy is not really good at doing, like encouraging small business and consumer spending, buying fuel efficient cars and going to work while you pay someone to look after your kid. The problem is that, in trying to accomplish things that the tax code is bad at, it’s primary function gets obscured and misdirected.
The primary function of the tax code is to raise money for the government to expend in pursuit of the common good. Arguments about how the common good is best pursued aside for the moment, our current tax policies and the frustration surrounding them is in at least some way responsible for current anti-tax movement. Hell, by 10:30 last night I was ready for the union to be busted and the whole State of Wisconsin to just go to bed.
That’s not really what I want, though. Nor do I think that most people in Wisconsin want teachers to be treated like garbage. The problem is that the path between my taxes and Tallulah’s teachers’ paychecks has become so convoluted that I could well become distrustful of the people managing the intermediary steps. A just society does, I believe, demand more of those who benefit the most, but that society also owes those who support it most a clear accounting of how the resources are being gathered and used. Which at this point is damn near impossible.