Wanted: A kinder, fairer, simpler income tax

What I Learned in My 16 Years on the Tax Beat: System Is Shaky, but a Series of Changes Are on the Way; Some Funny and Sad Moments

By TOM HERMAN, Wall Street Journal

Nearly 40 years ago, as a recent college graduate, I made a painful discovery: I couldn't figure out how to do my own federal income-tax return.

That was embarrassing, and it made me wonder what other Americans do. So I wrote my first major tax story: I asked five different tax-preparation services in the Atlanta area to prepare returns for a family of four with fairly typical finances. The results: At one extreme, a tax expert said the family was entitled to a federal income-tax refund of $652.04. But another said the family owed $141 -- a difference of $793.04.

That experience made me feel somewhat less dumb, but the article didn't have much impact: Since then, our tax system has evolved from a mess to a nightmare. The pace of change has accelerated in recent decades as lawmakers increasingly have tried to use tax laws to reward or punish conduct. The number of pages in the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter, which records tax law, regulations and related material, has soared to 70,320 from 26,300 in 1984.

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