Fix the absurd federal tax code

The following is from a Pittsburgh Post-gazette editorial:

The New York Times alleges that President Donald Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. A tax system that lets some people — the super rich and the super poor — pay no taxes while most Americans pay a lot in taxes is corrupt and unsustainable.

And there are specifics in the tax code that are inexplicable and incomprehensible, except as special favors for those who can afford lobbyists. Why, for example, does the tax code allow a business taxpayer to write off personal expenses, such as haircuts and greens fees? Why do real estate developers enjoy such generous exemptions? Why are there provisions on capital gains that allow them to pay very little or no federal income taxes?

Further, a report for the National Bureau of Economic Research says $7.5 trillion in taxes will go uncollected in the next 10 years because the IRS simply does not have the means to enforce the tax law.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized tax avoidance by the super rich. Trump also campaigned on a promise to stop the wealthy from ripping off the middle class. But, four years later, Trump has tax strategies available to him that are simply not available to the vast majority of his supporters.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter’s federal tax burden for the previous year was zero, thanks to a tax credit earned from purchasing equipment for his farm. Carter voluntarily paid the Treasury $6,000, equivalent to 15 percent of his income. Maybe that makes him a chump or maybe that makes him a patriot. But just as in 1977 and 2016, the tax code is still unjust and irrational and needs to be fixed.