“The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax.”
~ Albert Einstein
That little snippet from an actual genius made me feel better about my efforts to fill out my tax forms this year. I gave up halfway through and handed the task over to Caitlin. It may be my perception, but it seems like the tax forms are getting more complicated, not less, and no matter which politician promises what from the campaign trail, the “little guy” is always the one who gets stabbed in the eye when it comes to bearing the brunt of the tax burden.
In all seriousness, if a flat 10% was good enough for God, who the heck does the government think it is?
WalletHub, a personal finance website which provides consumer “financial fitness” tools like credit reports and monitoring, released its 2023 taxpayer survey this week and some of the results were quite entertaining:
- 73% of people say the government does not spend their tax dollars wisely.
- Almost 34% of people say not having enough money is their biggest Tax Day fear, followed by making a math mistake (23%) and getting audited (22%).
- 39% of people would move to a different country for a tax-free future, while 37% would get an “IRS” tattoo and 23% would stop talking for 6 months.
- 49% of people would do jury duty rather than do their taxes, while 36% would talk to their kids about sex and 26% would miss a connecting flight.
- 72% of people think their current tax rate is too high.
There are a few people whose taxes I would willingly pay if they would stop talking for six months. As for getting an IRS tattoo… it would depend on the required location and size, but it might be worth it just to not have to fill out the stupid forms again. And don’t even get me started on the FAFSA. I’m grateful I don’t have to do that one anymore.
Good luck, fellow citizens, as you tackle IRS mountain this year. May the odds be ever in your favor.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
