TAXES

The first year I was required to file a tax return was in 1959. I don't actually remember if I had to pay but I did have to file. That was in the days when the short form was really short. Pretty much of how much did I make, then this was my tax liability. All done on a cardboard IBM punch type card. Now the short form is a full page and the instruction alone is about 42 pages long. Last year - for the first time - I made a mistake which resulted in me owing extra monies to IRS. They sent me a letter, telling where my mistake was, how much more I owed and then to top it off, assessed me a penalty for not paying the full amount on time. The penalty was only about $3 but it was irrating to be fined over a simple mistake. But I got over that. Until this past Sunday. In the Sunday paper (actually the PARADE Magazine) there was an article about taxes. According to that article, 61% (that's right, 61%) of U.S. Corporations paid no taxes. That included 39% of large corporations but did not list them. Wal-Mart? Ford? GM? Yellow Freight? Sprint? Who knows? In 2007, according to the article, corporations shouldered just 14.4% of the U.S. tax burden compared with about 50% in 1940. Guess who made up the difference? This year, individuals are expected to pay $1.21 TRILLION (an increase from $1.16 TRILLION in 2007. Corporate taxes declined from $370 BILLION in 2007 to $364 BILLION in 2008. That's right: you and I pay trillions while corporations pay billions. And guess who is responsible for that? Your friendly elected representative. According to the Citizens for Tax Justice, the corporate tax burden in this country is the worlds third lowest when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product. So, the bottom line is that you and I are paying high taxes so that corporations do not have to. In all fairness, some elected officials are trying to end this. In February, the house passed a bill to end $18 billion in tax breaks for oil companies. But will the bill clear the senate and be signed by the president? Probably not. At the same time the head of the House Ways and Means Committee has introduced legislation to trim corporate tax rates while reducing loopholes. "Trim tax rates" "Reduce loopholes"? What does that mean. Less taxes for corporations or more? So, when you mail your check to uncle sam this year, think about how much you would pay if all corporations (and all citizens)paid taxes. No deductions. Everyone pays.