| I'm a bald eagle! I pay my taxes! Chirp, chirp! |
So, I filed my 2012 federal income taxes, and I have to say I remain highly unimpressed with this system of taxation. It makes some very broad assumptions and makes one particular judgment that I find to be hopelessly unfair and infuriating.
First, I will remind the reader that 2012 was my
first year back from a deployment which took me away from my business for a
year. This was a year of
rebuilding. Fortunately, but unbeknownst
to the Tax Man (not that I was hiding it), I was able to bring a large portion
of what I made overseas home – a cushion to help make ends meet as I went about
the task of rebuilding my piano tuning business.
As I filled out the forms for 2012, it was clear
that the IRS was not interested in what I did or did not bring home from my
deployment. The IRS was not interested
in the state of my business, whether it was steady over the last few years or
being built up again after a year away.
None of those questions came up on the 1040, the SE, or the C-EZ. The only thing they wanted to know about 2012
is how much money I made.
Technically, I file as a single individual. For all practical purposes, I am also helping to support
two children – materially, emotionally, developmentally. Note that I included materially. However, due to how things went down for me
during the divorce, not having the benefit of a lawyer, I technically have to
file as a single person.
I say this because for 2012, my total income fell
below the poverty line for a single individual, and well below for a household
of three which, again, for all practical purposes, is much closer to the
reality based on how much time my kids spend with me. At this point, what is left from
the deployment, that cushion, will cover one month’s rent plus one month’s
child support. That’s all that is
left. What the Tax Man compelled me to
fork over two days ago is a relatively small amount to most people. However, relative
to me and my situation, it wasn’t a small amount. The assumption has been made that I didn’t
need it. But I did. I do.
The IRS judges that the amount they squeezed from me
is needed by the government. Isn’t that
what taxation is all about? The
government needs it. And if they don’t get it, they can
seize the working man's bank account and everything in it to settle the bill, and tack on
interest and penalties to boot. But bless their bureaucratic hearts, over 100,000
individuals and families that made more than $250,000 last year will pay zero
taxes on their income (if the figures from 2011 are any indication), and the
IRS has judged that the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars that represents
is somehow not needed. Why?
Because an expensive CPA or tax attorney crossed some t's and dotted some i's, keeping tens of
millions of dollars from the Tax Man’s grasp.
Oh, and those are the Tax Man’s own forms those guys are filling out,
printed up in his own office. It’s as if
the Tax Man is telling these wealthy people, “Here, fill this out. This form is for you. I don’t even want your millions. But Henning over there has something I need
desperately, and count on me to threaten his property and even his rights to property
to get it. And if that low-life fails to
report his paltry income, into the
slammer he goes! Bwah, ha, ha,
haaaaaa!!”
Yes, the judgment I find so infuriating: the
government needs the little it can
get from me (money it assumes I don’t need) to the point that it will threaten
my property and very freedom, but it doesn’t
need the millions from those who, by the stroke of a pen, are let off the hook.
Some of you may have heard me interviewed recently
on a friend's podcast about taxation, and you may have thought something along
the lines of: Well, he just needs to be a better business man, or, He needs to
do a better job finding those deductions for his business, or things to that
effect. I would just say that, as a
working man trying to feed myself and my kids, which is perhaps my highest
responsibility to society, I don’t need the arrogant and uninformed assumptions
of bureaucrats and legislators as to what money I need or don’t need (especially money I've earned), and I don’t
need to be judged by my fellow citizens as to my business acumen or the
dexterity with which I handle a tax form.
I shouldn’t have to have an MBA or be a CPA to go out and earn my
living. I define success in business as
not having to ask for handouts to support me and my kids, and in that light, I
am successful. I'm out there making it happen. At least I was smart
enough to know I’d need that cushion coming home from deployment, and smart
enough to not blow it on a brand new car or think I can afford that two-bedroom
now. And I’m smart enough to have
stopped using credit cards years ago.
Everything I buy is paid for right there and then; no looking back, no
interest. I’m a "credit" to myself – I don’t
need some faceless banker’s approval as a measure of my success. Want to measure something? Measure this.
[crude gesture]
Save your platitudes on fairness. This system was put in place by the rich, for
the rich (see: history). The better we understand
this connection, the clearer it will become as to why the millions who are in
my situation have to put up with this crap.
And all this crap goes away without a tax on our earned income: the
assumptions, the judgments, the inquisition, the squeezing, and the threats of
fines, confiscation of property, and prison being unceremoniously and
unapologetically shackled to earning an honest living - a fundamental human right. There is a better way. I’m looking for it. I am convinced that part of the answer lies
in our past (obviously, pre-income tax), and part of it lies with the
creativity of those in the present. If I
find it, I’ll let you know. You might
help by looking around yourself.
