I & I Editorial BoardIt’s obvious that Donald Trump is a different president. His divergence from the norm manifests itself in various ways. He’s even broached the possibility of eliminating the Internal Revenue Service. Count us among the tens if not hundreds of millions of Americans who wish him godspeed if he chooses to dissolve this truly abusive agency.
Trump’s IRS commissioner nominee, Billy Long, whose appointment passed another hurdle Tuesday, might give us a little more insight into Trump’s plans for the IRS. Long, a former Republican House member from Missouri, cosponsored more than a decade ago a bill that would abolish the IRS and enact a national sales tax administered primarily by the states.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed in February that Trump wants “to abolish the Internal Revenue Service.” The president also ordered the halt of the hiring of 87,000 new IRS employees that the Biden administration wanted to sic on Americans.
During the second Obama term, ABC News noted that the “IRS has long history of political dirty tricks,” with presidents using “the agency as a weapon against political enemies.” The story ever-so-lightly touched on the administration’s targeting of conservative groups that opposed Barack Obama’s policies. In this particular instance of corruption, “the former president used the Exempt Organizations division of the IRS to delay or deny the approval of tax-exempt status for more than 100 new organizations between 2010 and 2012,” explains taxpayer advocate Dan Pilla.
This taxing power of the IRS has:
- Destroyed “individual freedom in health insurance” through Obamacare.
- Invaded our privacy.
- Denied due process (“The IRS engages in many summary judgments, and enforces them prior to any judicial determinations,” says the Cato Institute’s Chris Edwards).
- Shifted the burden of proof to the accused.
- Produced a horrifying system in which taxpayers are required to pay in full the alleged tax, penalties, and interest before a jury trial, a guaranteed constitutional right, can be requested.
- Permitted it to conduct unreasonable searches and seizures using its authority under the tax code “to obtain records of every description from any person without showing probable cause and without a court order,” says Edwards.
- Violated the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination by requiring Americans to file tax returns under penalty of perjury. “Citizens face a legal dilemma,” Edwards says. “On the one hand, refusing to file a return would expose a citizen to prosecution for failure to file. On the other hand, disclosing information sought in tax returns constitutes a waiver of Fifth Amendment protections.”
- Created an antagonistic and often hostile relationship between the federal government and the American people it’s supposed to serve, not subjugate.
The IRS is also a thief, stealing time and economic opportunity. According to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation:
- “The average 1040 filer now faces $290 in out-of-pocket costs and spends 13 hours preparing a return.
- “Taxpayers will spend an estimated 7.1 billion hours complying with the tax code for Tax Year 2024 – equivalent to $316 billion in lost productivity based on private sector labor costs.
- “Americans will face at least $148 billion in out-of-pocket expenses for filing, including tax software and professional services – bringing the total compliance burden to $464 billion, just shy of last year’s record.”
The Tax Foundation estimates total compliance costs are a $546 billion drag on the economy, nearly 2% of GDP.
A national sales would greatly reduce Washington’s power to destroy. So would a low-rate flat income tax, though less so. Tariffs could also replace the income tax, but only if the size of government were radically slashed (which would be a welcomed development).
Of course the government would still need a revenue collecting agency, but it would not have to be the cruel behemoth that exists today. A new agency would be leaner, not as mean, and far less political. This should be another 80-20 issue, with only the worst among us on the 20% side.
— Written by the I&I Editorial Board
I wish Congress would just go all-out and pass the Fair Tax Act, as written by former Congressman John Lindner and Rob Woodall.
The best thing I see with the elimination of the income tax is that it would eliminate any penalties for non-filing of admissions of guilt. The only forms that would be filed would be sales tax remittance statements, and these would only be filed by businesses.
Nobody should be endorsing any new form of taxation, such as a national sales tax, without the clear stipulation that the 16th amendment must be repealed before the new tax can become effective. If the 16th is not repealed, we would have both a sales tax and an income tax.
The IRS has been used as a political tool. It, I believe, released Trumps taxes so that those who had it in for him could use his return against him. Friends of mine (people I respect) let me know-when he was running in 2016-how crooked he was. “Just look at his tax returns. He hardly paid any,” they would say.
Of course they got all their “unbiased” facts from red-line journals like the NY Times and the Washington Post-who, by coincidence I’m sure-both editorialized against Trump.
Also these were the same rags of yellow journalism where “Democracy went to die” during the Jan 6th trials, the Russian Collusion scandal and Hunter Biden’s Laptop, inter alia.
“If Trump broke tax laws”, I expostulated, “why hasn’t the IRS prosecuted him?” As an aside, I’ll tell you why. Lawfare had not yet come into vogue. The so-called Biden Justice Department and even state and local areas persecuted the guy.
They weaponized the law and because of Trump Derangement Syndrome the only people who recognized their derangement were those of us who saw in Trump a smart and wise, decent and successful entrepreneur.
Their evidence in courts was always flimsy. The only things that weren’t flimsy in the courts were the self-righteousness of the judges and prosecutors.
I only see one downside with getting rid of the IRS. Where would all their employees go? They would probably seep into the cracks of society so they could continue to hassle and annoy the rest of us.
its time to take away the power of congress to take on debt !
the way this would work is simple :
congress will be required to pass a budget each year , no more CRs it has to be a full budget .
If the budget is balanced congress can pass it and it goes to the president for signature.
If the budget is not balanced than a special election is called and every spending item and associated debt is put on the ballot and voters can vote yay or nay .
if voters approve than the bill goes to the president for signature .
In addition all proposed tax increases also would be on the ballot too !
This would force fiscal responsibility on congress and eliminate pork
“Will Trump Weaken Washington’s Power To Tax?” No. NOTHING will ever do that. Trump can’t even get the DOGE cuts codified.