Happy Belated Tax Day!

Busy day yesterday - so I apologize for not posting anything. But IFL had a great day, policy-wise. But don't just take my word for it. This is from Jeff DuFour, who writes the Yeas and Nays Column for the Washington Examiner:

http://www.examiner.com/x-73-Yeas_and_Nays~y2008m4d16-Dear-taxpayer-thank-you-the-IRS

Dear Taxpayer, Thank You - The IRS

POSTED April 16, 12:24 AM

Would you feel better about sending your hard-earned cash to the government every April 15 if you got, say, a thank-you note in return from Uncle Sam?

Andrew Langer, president of the Institute for Liberty, suggested at a Tax Day news conference on Monday that the government do exactly that.

“We believe that the government ought to provide a receipt to each taxpayer in October of every year — a note of thanks detailing the total amount in federal income taxes paid by the filer for the prior calendar year,” Langer said. “If Americans are to really exercise their oversight roles, then the federal government has its own obligation to ensure that the populace knows exactly what they are paying. And saying thank you is, frankly, just good manners.”

He said the measure is an alternative to moving tax-filing day to October to coincide more closely with elections — an idea that has been popular on the right for some time.

As for the idea gaining any traction in Congress, Langer said his organization is going to start pushing members on the matter.
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We did this at the Americans for Tax Reform annual Tax Day Press Conference. Here's my statement:

Statement of Andrew M. Langer, President

Institute for Liberty

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Happy filing day. I’m Andrew Langer, President of the Institute for Liberty, and with me at the podium is Kerri Houston, IFL’s Senior Vice President for Policy. IFL is an advocacy organization focusing on combating the tyrannies of government, especially as those tyrannies harm small business and entrepreneurship in America.

The power to take private property has always been regarded as, “the despot’s power.” And as income is the property of the person who earns it, the power to tax is part and parcel of that despotic power: apt to be abused and requiring the utmost care, attention, and oversight by the people.

For small business, taxes (both the complexity of the code and the amounts taken) continue to be of grave concern. The same holds true for taxpayers generally, but their ability to exercise their personal oversight is blunted by the withholding process. Withholding blunts the sting of taxation, and clouds the overall impact.

Some have called for filing day to be moved to the fall, to better link the payment of taxes with the exercise of one’s franchise rights. Perhaps if the idea of what one pays in taxes were fresher in the minds of Americans when they step into the voting booth, then many Americans who vote without a care for their tax burden might think more about the relationship between the candidates they support and what they are paying each and every year.

IFL agrees with that sentiment, but has an idea that might not be as complex as having to move filing day. If the “tax faction” truly believes that taxes are the price for living in a civil society, and ought to be the grateful obligation of a nation’s citizenry, then perhaps a note of thanks to the populace for fulfilling those obligations might be in order.

We believe that the federal government ought to provide a receipt to each taxpayer in October of every year – a note of thanks detailing the total amount in federal income taxes paid by the filer for the prior calendar year. If Americans are to really exercise their oversight roles, then the federal government has their own obligation to ensure that the populace knows exactly what they are paying. And it ought to be thankful – it’s just good manners for a thank you note to be issued.

Thank you again for coming out this morning. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

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And here is the Press Release:

Advocacy Group Calls for Federal Tax Thank You Note

“It’s Just Good Manners”

Washington, DC – At a press conference held this morning, the Institute for Liberty called on the federal government to issue a thank you note six months after taxes are filed, saying that the government ought to be thankful that the citizenry are fulfilling what many believe to be the price of citizenship.

“We believe that the federal government ought to provide a receipt to each taxpayer in October of every year – a note of thanks detailing the total amount in federal income taxes paid by the filer for the prior calendar year,” said Andrew Langer, the institute’s president. “If Americans are to really exercise their oversight roles, then the federal government has its own obligation to ensure that the populace knows exactly what they are paying. And saying thank you is, frankly, just good manners.”

IFL is an advocacy organization dedicated to what it terms the “petty tyrannies” of government, specifically those that impact small business and entrepreneurship. Its motto is “Defending America’s Right to Be Free.” Taxes remain a primary issue for small business owners and entrepreneurs, both with regards to the complexities of the tax code and the sheer burden of what they owe each and every year.

“As income is the property of the person who earns it, the power to tax that income is part and parcel of the other powers to take private property,” Langer further explained. “The power to take private property has always been regarded as ‘the despot’s power’…apt to be abused, and requiring the utmost care, attention, and oversight by the people.”

IFL believes that by furnishing people with an accounting of what they have paid in the previous year, and doing so in the weeks leading to federal election time, that individuals will be more cognizant of their federal tax burden when going to the polls. Having that burden fresh in their minds would lead them to make choices that are more “tax friendly.”

IFL is a 501C(4) advocacy organization based in Virginia.

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