IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said in an interview that he does not prepare his own taxes because he finds the tax code too "complex." The commissioner's admission came in an interview on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program, which aired recently. The Commissioner appeared on the program to discuss the agency's new initiative to regulate professional tax preparers, including setting minimum standards for people who do other people's taxes. Midway through the interview, Steve Scully, the C-SPAN host, asked Commissioner Shulman if he prepares his own taxes. Shulman smiled slightly and said, "I use a preparer." Scully asked why, to which Shulman smiled and said, "Uh, I've used one for years. I find it convenient and I find the tax code complex, so I use a preparer."
Wow! Finally, the chief executive and leader of the IRS says what we common folk have known for years -- the tax code is too complex to understand!
I think it is ironic that he says he uses a "preparer" instead of an accountant. I can just see Shulman covertly going into the nearest H&R Block in a Virginia neighborhood strip mall to get his taxes done, hoping the minimum wage tax preparer does not know enough to know the name of the IRS Commissioner.
Aside from that scenario, back to the real issue - how absurdly complex the tax code is and how most people have no clue what to make of it. It's written in such a way as to discourage the use of many of the tax breaks that are supposed to help the middle class and small businesses. Instead, marriage is penalized by higher tax rates, and the sheer volume of documentation required for a small business person to take advantage of tax exemptions and credits stops most people cold.
Sadly, there is no real dialogue or debate anymore about making the tax code simpler, and politicians are afraid to touch this issue. So it looks like we will just have to join IRS Commissioner Shulman and just go hire a tax preparer.
