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By JOHN G. WEST JR. Rappahannock News Contributing Writer
Editors Note: The recent tax reform package has been hailed as the first major revision of the tax code in decades. In this article, John West questions the common wisdom on the subject and suggests that the real questions about taxation have neither been raised nor answered yet. Going back to the American Founding, West considers some of these “real questions” as considered by the Founding Fathers. In particular, he discusses Alexander Hamilton's brilliant defense of indirect taxation - and suggests that his insights still have relevance for today.
Within the next few months, the long heralded “tax reform” legislation will finally go into effect, amid much acclaim by laymen and lawmakers alike. Descriptions of the tax package heretofore have been laden with words and phrases like “fundamental,” “historic,” and the “first major revision in decades.”
Yet the effusive rhetoric obscures a rather critical point: This “major” tax reform legislation isn’t really all that major. It won’t change the type of federal tax we have to pay (it will still be an income tax). It won’t simplify tax preparation much for the average taxpayer (Form 1040 isn’t being abandoned, after all). Nor will it make the tax system any less coercive (the IRS will still be around). The revision will cut out some tax breaks and juggle around some tax rates - but this is tinkering with the existing system, not changing it at its roots.
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