Is real tax reform possible?

August 3, 2013

The Max & Dave Traveling Tax Reform Tour has so far made stops in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Philadelphia.

The road show's top act, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), insist that there's a good chance they'll be able to shepherd through some sort of tax reform before both relinquish leadership of their Congressional panels.

We shall see.

All talk, little action: Americans love to complain about taxes, both how much we pay and how our Senators and Representatives spend our money.

But we also fight changes to the tax code when it means we will personally lose a tax break.

And lobbyists who get paid humongous retainers to argue for tax benefits for special industry and corporate interests are even worse.

According to data cited in the infographic below, compiled for Master of Accounting Degrees, despite our complaining, tax reform tends to be at the bottom of Americans' national to-do list.

Image compliments of Master of Accounting Degrees

So what about you? Do you believe we U.S. taxpayers will ever accept that we might personally need to surrender a favorite tax break in order to make the tax system simpler for everyone?

Do you see Baucus and Camp getting enough public support to justify their tax reform efforts?

Do you think we'll see any type of tax rewrite this year? If not, do you think it's possible for Congress to tweak tax laws in an election year?

Or will 2014 just be 10 long months of politicians using taxes as a campaign cudgel leading up to the November mid-term votes?

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The More Tax Posts tab at the top of this page will take you to, well, more tax posts. You also can search below for a tax topic.

Tax Season 2026 Continues!

We made it. Tax Day 2025 is finally over. For most of us. When the filing season started on Jan. 26, millions who were expecting refunds filed immediately. Most of us got our returns to the Internal Revenue Service by April 15. But plenty of taxpayers also got extensions. They are looking at an Oct. 15 filing deadline.

Those procrastinating filers aren’t a problem. In fact, the IRS appreciates taxpayers who take time to fill out their 1040 forms correctly. It also is grateful that tax submissions are spread out a bit, especially now that the IRS is a leaner agency. Processing returns is easier when they arrive throughout the year instead of in massive bunches.

But enough about Uncle Sam’s tax collection issues. The focus now is on all y’all who filed for extensions, giving you another six months to complete your return. Since your new mid-October due date will be here before you know it, let’s get started now on meeting it.

The ol’ blog is here to help you finish up your extended Form 1040. You can start with January’s tax tips page, which has links to the rest of the year’s tips by-month collections. You also can peruse various tax categories for more tailored advice by clicking on the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of this (and every) page.

And to make sure you don’t miss your new filing deadline, the count-down clock below will let you know just how much time you to file by Oct. 15. At the latest.e. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

Credits/Deductions

Disasters

Family

Filing and Paying Taxes

Politics/Laws

Refunds

State Taxes

Tax Brackets/Inflation

Tax Tips

Comments

Bruce

13 years ago

Well I am going to have to go with the later. As it has been for countless elections in the past so will this one to come and future ones after this.
Tax reform will be the platform/campaign to rally us all. Personally I would like to see Americans take the stand on reps that will vote in term limits. With the right numbers and the seats changing, I believe it would eliminate a lot of the behind the scene lobbying funds to those who have been there for 30 and forty years.

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Is real tax reform possible?

Bruce