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Show Viewpoint - Flat tax is only solution to IRS quagmire income. It is fair, reasonable and easy to compute. For those very reasons it will never become law. An army of accountants, lawyers and others make a very good living from the complex income tax laws. That group will never allow congress to adopt a "flat tax." Where does this leave us with the filing deadline of April 15 just a few days away? 1. Keep good, accurate records of your financial dealings. 2. Purchase and study (tax - deductible)- easy-to-read-and- understand books prepared for people in your job or profession. These books point out legal deductions not known by most people. 3. In most cases, the average wage earner should prepare his or her own return. 4. If you have a sor "professional" prepare your rdL-the rdL-the lowest fee may not bethel bargain. (Remember the G.: Morning America experiment! 5. If you are audited by the R don't panic and don't f intimidated. Even though me ft what the IRS does is ; ms questionable constitutic:: , , legality, you have nothing to :: 2 unless you have been delets; dishonest. r- 6. Make sure you get the IE' : specify in advance exactly I items they are questioning, f allow a fishing expedition hj i agent. One last comment. It is : immoral or illegal, to take ev deduction you are entitled to i j under the complex code. I By JACK HILL After watching the Space Shuttle soar aloft last week, a short special on "Good Morning America" caught my eye and ear. A "Good Morning America" female employee was given a fake identification and a set of papers showing income, deductions, etc., and sent to six different income tax preparers. The charges for preparing the return ranged from $65 to $175 and the refunds ranged from $102 to $1,700. A private accountant charged I her the most ($175) and got her the ' biggest ($1,700) refund. Two different H&R Block offices were asked to prepare the return. Office number one charged $122 and got our fake employee only, a $102 refund. Office number two charged her $90 but got her an $875 refund. Remember, all income and deductions figures were the same for each preparer. The fake employee answered every question honestly. Some preparers were very thorough in asking questions while others failed to ask obvious questions. An H.F.C. employee even told her to cheat by not reporting some of her income. He charged her $100 got an $800 refund after cheating! Two accounting firms charged $75 and $80 and came up with refunds of $1,600 and $1,500. So why recite these amazing findings of a TV experiment that deals with the income tax laws? Simply this, the tax code in this country has become so complex that no one, not even the Internal Revenue Service, understands all the intricacies of the 1,500 page IRS code book. For the record, I'm no tax rebel in the sense that I advocate nonpayment non-payment of income taxes. The 16th Amendment and numerous Supreme Court cases convince me that the income tax must be paid. But I do believe that most honest working people in America pay more than they legally should. If you view the United States Government as a charitable organization and want to pay more than you legally have to, don't read the rest of this article. Over 18 months ago a prominent tax rebel issued a challenge to anyone in America (IRS employees included) that he would give $100,000 to the first person who could prove from the IRS tax code book that citizens were required by law to pay income taxes. Only one person, a Provo lawyer, has stepped forward to claim the money and that was just last week. It is too early to tell whether he'll get the $100,000 or not. You would think that an IRS employee would have jumped at the money long ago. Try your own experiment, like I did. Call two different IRS offices and ask a question that deals with a grey area of the tax code. You'll likely get two different opinions, like I did. And remember, if you are called to an audit, an IRS opinion will be of no value in backing your claim. The solution to this quagmire of legislation, exemptions and exceptions we call the IRS code is the "flat tax." Everyone, no exceptions, pays a fixed rate on all |