The most noteworthy and damning moment of the GOP debate in Iowa Thursday was when the moderators asked the candidates to raise their hands if they would walk away from a deal that cut ten dollars from the deficit for every one dollar in tax increases. Every last person on stage said they’d reject that deal. [Atlantic]
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The American People Have Spoken on Tax Reform
After asking pretty much everyone for their suggestions on tax reform, the President’s Tax Reform Panel has released 384 submitted suggestions and the American People did not disappoint.
The FairTax.org crowd turned out en masse and plenty of practitioners and academics also provided their $0.02.
We didn’t really read those but we’re sure they’re great. We were more interested in those people that were more or less thinking out loud.
Suggestion #239 Mike Finch:
I support yearly audits of all government big wigs and prison terms for any that are found to have made more than $100 mistake on their taxes.
Suggestion #249 from “Froggy” whose organization is “peace man”:
Tax the rich! tax the rich! tax the rich!. oh please please please tax the rich. I want the economy to sink further!
Suggestion #278 from Alex Clay:
Make it explicit that cheating on your taxes makes you ineligible for presidentially appointed positions or committee chairmanships in the congress
Suggestion #346 from Ed:
0% tax rate. Reduce the tax law to 2 pages.
David Laing’s suggestion (#359) must have gotten lost on its way to the health care debate:
No option is NO OPTION! No bill that does not contain a public option is not worth your signature.
Since most of you have checked out for the week, consider spending some digging through these for more gems (we haven’t been able to find an intern that’s up to the job) or suggest your own ideas in the comments.
H&R Block Is Up for the Challenge
After yesterday’s news of brand spanking new requirements for paid tax preparers, we mused about the plans of tax prep shops like H&R Block to fall in line with Doug Shulman’s demands.
It was then suggested to us that maybe we should just ask them. Novel idea! So being nosy we did just that.
We got in touch with very helpful H&R Block spokesperson who provided us with the following statement:
H&R Block is pleased to support IRS Commissioner Shulman’s efforts to improve the regulation of tax preparers. We believe the requirements announced by the IRS today are a great first step in delivering on the promise of providing all taxpayers an ethical and accurate tax preparation experience.
We welcome the spotlight that the IRS has cast on our industry and are committed to maintaining the highest possible training and testing standards in the tax preparation industry. H&R Block tax professionals already are required to complete hundreds of hours of training and undergo additional testing each year. Our minimum training standards exceed those the IRS will require.
So there you have it. Challenge accepted. In fact, H&RB will see your IRS standards and raise you. See you in 2011.
H&R Block Won’t Be Tricking Anyone With ‘Free’ DIY Tax Prep This Tax Season
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized an order that forces H&R Block to make […]