tax day 2016

for Tax Day, I give you an AEI study that looks like an impressive effort to compile survey data on public perception of taxes...

The three most misunderstood and important things about taxes:

 

1.) Although you probably pay little attention to them, you probably lose a lot more of your income to FICA taxes. If you earn less than $118,500, round your income down to the nearest $10K and multiply by 15% to give you an idea what you lose from that nasty tax. 

 

2.) Remember that "April 15th" only represents an *adjustment* to your "federal income taxes". You've been paying too little or too much throughout the year-- and they don't know what you should pay. The 1040 helps you/them figure it out.

 

3.) The current income tax code is also a tax on your time, since it's done so inefficiently. Americans spend billions of hours and dollars to fill out needlessly-complex tax forms. Crony capitalism and all sorts of regressive subsidies (some of which you probably enjoy) are responsible. A flat income tax; the "Fair Tax"; or simply the elimination of loopholes would be a great improvement in this regard.