Imagine blaming corporations for the tax code when it’s the govt and politicians who are responsible for it.

▪️The irony is if you proposed a truly simple tax code, like everyone owes 10% on whatever they make, the Jon Stewarts of the world would howl and call it unfair. Instead, in the name of fairness, they want a progressive tax code, with a bunch of different brackets.

▪️But wait, having children is a financial burden. Ok, let’s carve out a child tax credit loophole to help parents. What about homeowners, we want to help them, right? Ok, let’s have a mortgage deduction. Wait, that’s unfair to those who rent, so let’s add a renter’s credit, too. And student loans? Those are also burdensome, let’s let borrowers deduct them.

▪️What about childcare expenses? Ok, add another deduction. And it’s unfair people who are self employed have to shoulder business expenses, so let them deduct business expenses. Same with healthcare expenses. And what about people who take care of their elderly parents? Surely they deserve a deduction, too. Heck, let’s just include a standard deduction, just so no one is left out, and let people add up a hundred things to see if they can itemize.

▪️And we want to encourage people to save for their retirement, right? Ok, let’s have a 401K where their contributions aren’t taxed. But limit it to $23K/yr. Oh, but $30.5K for people over 50. Let’s also add loopholes for individual retirement accounts (IRAs). People can contribute, say, $7K, but of course we’ll let those over 50 shelter $8K. Unless they make over $161K/yr.

▪️Surely, we also want people to donate to charity, right? Ok, let’s add a charitable deduction. But only to approved charities, which have to be recognized by the IRS and file their own tax returns. We’ll make a whole new tax code for them so there’s no funny business.

▪️But what about climate change?! We need to move towards renewable energy. Ok, anyone who buys an electric car can get a…$7,500 tax credit. And if you put solar panels on your home…1/3 of that can be a credit. Of course, only wealthier filers can take advantage of these things, but there’s a climate emergency going on.

How dare the corporations make things so complicated!

The reality is that politicians love having a complicated tax code because it ensures special interest lobby them for favors and carveouts. If the code was truly simple, they’d have no power to dole out favors. And while it’s true that poor people don’t get a lot of loopholes, it’s because most poor people pay zero in federal income tax.