Tax Code Reform is Necessary

In my effort to pass the test as a Tax Preparer, I had an epiphany.

The complexity of the tax code far exceeds the capacity of many people to comply with it.

And then they are angry at it because they think someone with more capacity is getting more out of it than they are.  And you know what, they are correct in that.  And you know who gets the most advantage out of the Tax Code, Property Developers and Hedge Fund employees.  The latter is well known because the Democrats campaigned on ending the carried interest exclusion, but Donald Trump likely hasn't paid much income tax on a lot of income because it is sheltered by the depreciation of his property.

That is why his desire to end the Estate Tax is outrageous.  When property passes to an heir, it is marked up to market value for tax purposes and can be depreciated all over again.  This is the ultimate legal game for avoiding taxes and Trump pursues it to the nth degree.  He doesn't pay much in taxes and he doesn't want his children to pay much in taxes on billions of $ of wealth.

So either the Estate Tax must remain to avoid this or something that I cannot figure out a fair way to do needs to be done about property depreciation for things that appreciate in value and are not owned by a corporation, but rather by partnerships.

Partnerships are also the big winner in the Kansas state tax reduction that has ruined their finances so we know this is a favorite trick of the GOP to reward their campaign supporters.

I am not optimistic about my preferred action coming to fruition in the GOP led Congress.