Did you hear about or see Donald Rumsfeld’s letter accompanying his
tax return to the IRS? Mr. Rumsfeld was Chief
of Staff under President Ford and then Secretary of Defense in the George W.
Bush Administration.
It turns out that he writes a letter to the IRS to accompany his tax return
every year. This year he published the letter on Twitter. Here it is:
He brings up
a point that is on my mind this close to April 15: why do so many people use
professional tax preparers? Mind you, over the years I have prepared or
reviewed tax returns for very wealthy people. It is understandable why such people
have preparers. I will when I become ridiculously rich.
What we are talking
about are your neighbors or mine. Perhaps they have a small business, perhaps they
own a duplex or perhaps inherited a little bit of money. They are far from
broke but nowhere near wealthy. Why are they using a preparer?
Because the
average person can hardly do his/her own return anymore.
If one is
poor, then one is looking at the earned income tax credit. That thing makes even
professional preparers cringe. Did you know there is a tax credit for
low-income taxpayers contributing to their 401(k)?
Let’s say
you start making a little bit of money. When does your deduction for student
loan interest phase-out? Do you know how to handle the child care tax credit if
you have dependent care taken out through your cafeteria plan? Is there a tax
credit for those new windows on your house?
You and a family member own an LLC. You draw a paycheck. Do you owe
self-employment tax on the profit left over?
That duplex
shows a tax loss, caused mostly by depreciation. Can you claim the loss on your
tax return?
You start
making money. What is the “net investment income” tax, and does it apply to a family
business you have little to do with, other than maybe annual meetings? What
about that bank account you keep in Canada, as you have a cabin there? Is there
any kind of tax break for all that alternative minimum tax you have paid in
recent years?
I am a professional
tax advisor, and I agree that the system is broken. There is no equivalent to our income tax preparation industry in the U.K. for example, which is even more remarkable when one remembers that perilously close to one-half of Americans do not pay income taxes.Thanks to Donald Rumsfeld for speaking out on this matter.
