King for a Day

Q: If you could recommend any 2 changes to reform the US gov’t, what would they be?

A: Every[one] probably has a cabinet-level agency that he thinks should be abolished first. I dream such dreams, too. But as I grow older, I become less utopian. So, I [recommend] 2 minor technical revisions of the tax code:

1. Repeal withholding on all federal income taxes.
2. Move the date that federal taxes are due to the first Monday of November. [Federal elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.]

These are just a couple of minor technical revisions, right? Nothing too revolutionary here! I find it difficult to believe that a critic could go on national television and say, "This strikes at the very heart of the American experiment in liberty!" …Would voters rise up in wrath against a President who proposed these reforms? …

The withholding tax system is popular with the federal government for 4 reasons:

1. The government deliberately over-withholds. This forces taxpayers to file their forms to get their refunds.
2. It creates a "free money from the government" emotional response when the refund check arrives.
3. The government gets to use this money, interest-free, during the taxable year.
4. It makes income taxes and Social Security taxes less painful and therefore more acceptable.

If all federal income taxes were due on the same day, this day would become the most feared and hated day of the year, assuming that it isn't already. I ask: Why not have this day fall on the day before federal elections?

Personal income tax forms must be mailed by April 15. Think about this date. Before they vote in November, taxpayers have almost seven months to forget about tax misery day the previous April, and their next form-filing day will not come for almost six months. Out of sight, out of mind.
I say, let every citizen recall his previous day's tax filing and check-writing experience when he steps into the polling booth to cast his vote. Let democracy speak!

- Gary North