Tax Week

Last week was Tax Week. We all had to file our taxes (or extensions), and in Congress, the House passed several bills improving our Tax system and repealing the estate tax.

Quite frankly, we should abolish our entire tax system and start over with a national sales tax instead of an income tax. I am a cosponsor of H.R. 25, the Fair Tax Act, which does just that. Alternatively, I am also in favor of the flat tax, where everyone pays a low flat percentage of their earnings with no lobbyist loophole deductions.

Until we can gain enough support for one of these innovative solutions, I’ll be working to make our existing tax system fairer, flatter and simpler.

Currently, the tax code contains almost 4 million words. To comply with this complicated code, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that U.S. taxpayers and business spend about 7.6 billion hours a year working on taxes.

Take this complexity, add in political targeting by the IRS, and it is clear that the taxing arm of the federal government has grown far too large and is out-of-control. I am actively working to find solutions that put more money back into the pockets of Americans and our communities, rather than growing Washington.

This week the House took action and voted on a number of bills to hold the IRS accountable and limit government interference in order to help you achieve financial independence. The most important of which I believe is the repeal of the estate tax, which is a duplicative tax that unfairly impacts family businesses and many of our farmers. H.R.1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act, would eliminate the 40% tax imposed on families when they inherit assets from a passing family member if signed into law by President Obama.

Families should be able to pass on a business that has been built from the ground up without the government coming in and making a profit. By eliminating these taxes, family businesses, farms, and ranches will be better able to stay in business and not have to be liquidated to pay yet another tax.