| Show ii i ii ii i It t Seems To Me MeBy By Joseph B B. B Roberts m 1 11 Middle class taxpayers I want to borrow part of the opening line from TS Eliot's poem The Waste WasteLand WasteLand WasteLand Land to launch my column today Even though Eliot wasn't talking about the income tax coming due this month his observation seems apropos to my topic He lie said April is the cruelest month and that expresses the feelings of many minute last taxpayers April is a dreadful month when the first half of it is taken up with work and worry trying to get records straight and account to Big Brother for every penny earned and spent last year and then filling out those awful forms Granted we could start earlier and not mar the delicate beauty and warm promises of April with Form 1040 or but that's not our way We wait until there is not time left to wait and then scramble to get the cursed thing Inthe in inthe inthe the mail But the task of interpreting govern govern- and figuring out the correct amounts in the spaces provided may not be the only omy pain The taxpayer may discover that no matter how he figures it the tax withheld does not equal the tax due Even though he has been paying all year what seem seemed d exorbitant exorbitant exorbitant exor exor- exor- exor bitant amounts each month in tn withholding and Social Security he still owes more Is there no end ot of it CERTAINLY CEI FOR Fon those poor wage earners in the middle middle- income group there is no end eM They just keep paying and paying President Carter has promised a whopping billion tax cut but he speaks not to them They as usual are expected to bear the brunt of the cos costs s of programs from which they receive few benefits If Congress approves Carters Carter's proposals the middle income income families actually will pay more not less in taxes and Social Security It has been forever thus The wage earners in the middle-income middle group pay better than 50 percent of all taxes collected in this country but they receive little consideration from the law makers They seem to be the perennial patsies always earning too much to be entitled to the special dispensations provided the poor but not earning enough to be able to hire the accountants and tax lawyers that protect the rich They have no lobbyists lobbyists' watching out for their interests no special groups protecting their rights and no political party championing their cause Usually these middle-class middle citizens pay their taxes without undue complaint complaint com corn plaint seldom try to cheat the government government govern govern- ment take less deductions than they are entitled to take lake and make few demands They work hard to support themselves and their families They contribute to their churches or synagogues and to private charities They struggle to meet the payments of their homes automobiles and household goods They sacrifice to send their children to college They contribute contribute con con- tribute to pension plans plane and try to build buildup buildup buildup up some sort of Investments for their future It goes without saying that these honest industrious loyal self self- supporting citizens are the very heart of our democracy And yet it is the wages of the middle class that are always the target of these social reformers who would use taxing power to redistribute the wealth I dont don't think trunk it is a conspiracy to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs Its It's just that the rich are too powerful and well protected to be hurt and the poor dont don't have anything worth taking That leaves only omy the middle class vulnerable to the But aut conspiracy or not the result will be the he same Unless some substantial tax relief is provided the middle middle- income wage earners and small businessmen there is going to come along one April prU that will be too cruel to bear hear Then we will either have ve a tax revolt or no middle class left leIt to pay the bills |
