Today, October 22nd, is the 23rd anniversary of the enacting of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (signed into law by President Reagan). This act gave us the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) of 1986 – which is still used today. Though The Act was meant to simplify the tax code, today taxpayers are still beleaguered by a reprehensible system that disregards basic tenets of individual liberty and creates massive inefficiencies. Gerald Prante, senior economist of the Tax Foundation, had this to say on The Act’s 20th anniversary:
Why have politicians taken the stance that they would rather have tax deductions whose benefits are narrow rather than a broad-base, low-rate tax system that would benefit everyone and promote economic efficiency?
The simple answer is that special interests benefit heavily from narrow tax deductions and exemptions, even though the average taxpayer only benefits marginally. Therefore, while the overall benefits to society from overhauling the tax code would be significantly greater than the benefits of maintaining the status quo-the special deductions and complexity that permeate our tax system-special interests have a much greater incentive than the average American to lobby Congress on this issue.
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