Tax Day

As millions of Americans confer with their accountants, hunch over their computer screens, and get ready to pay the taxman in preparation for tomorrow's April 15 Internal Revenue Service deadline, a few thoughts come to mind.

The first is the need for tax simplification. Think of how much better it would be if all the time and energy devoted to reading IRS fine print were devoted to more productive tasks. Polls for the Tax Foundation show year after year that wide majorities of Americans believe the tax system is too complex. The federal tax code is tens of thousands of pages long, and much income is taxed three times — when it is originally earned, when it grows as a savings or investment, and again at death.

The second is that too much of the revenue that the city, state, and federal government takes in is wasted. Whether it is tales of federal employees using government credit cards for lingerie purchases or extravagant, wine-soaked dinners, or the overstaffed offices in Albany, or the vast expenditures on government-run monopoly school systems that are failing too many students, there is a lingering and disturbing sense among many on tax day that the money is not being well spent.

Third is that the burden of taxes increasingly is falling on a small portion of taxpayers. The top 1% of taxpayers now pay 38.8% of the federal income taxes, while the bottom 80% of taxpayers pay just 13.7% of the income taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. This is a big shift, and the changes in the tax burden far exceed the changes in income distribution. It has potentially corrosive effects on the democracy, as receiving government services has become increasingly divorced from the burden of paying for them.

Fourth is the effect that technology has had on tax day. Electronic filing and software programs such as TurboTax have somewhat eased the pain of tax day for many filers, the way anesthesia improved dentistry. No more standing in line at the post office, no more writing a check. The software in many cases costs less than hiring an accountant, and it simplifies the calculations, if not always the planning.

Finally comes the consolation that America is a great country, and New York a great city. So knowing that our taxes help pay the salaries of the troops serving bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rangers explaining the wonders of our national parks, and the New York police officers and firefighters who risk their lives to make our city safe — well, none of those things erase the need for tax simplification or our thoughts on the growing inequality of the tax burden. But they soften the anger of tax day from full-blown revolutionary rage to mere frustration and exasperation. In America, at least, if the tax man takes too much, we have only ourselves to blame.