Freedom Line Blog

The Commissioner of the IRS doesn’t even do his own taxes.   After all, the Tax Code is large, incomprehensible and it takes days to prepare a detailed return.

As IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman told C-SPAN this weekend, “I’ve used one [tax preparer] for years.  I find it convenient.  I find the tax code complex so I use a preparer.”

Thanks for those words of hope Commissioner Shulman.  If you can’t do your own taxes, maybe it’s time to hold off on the thousands of regulations that the IRS issues every year.

Not surprisingly, even members of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee use a “professional” to complete their tax returns.  Nobody in Washington, D.C. appears to know what’s going on with our Tax Code.  That’s not surprising at all.

The Ways and Means Committee just sent out a summary of all the “revenue enhancements” (err … tax hikes) in the new Pelosi health care bill.

However, these revenue enhancements add up to only ~$565.5 billion, which falls far short of the bill’s $800-$900 billion price tag.  The list of “spending cuts” has not yet been released.

Here are some highlights from the summary:

• A $5 billion tax hike achieved through narrowing the definition of a qualified medical deduction.   Currently, individuals with medical expenses exceeding 7.5% of adjusted gross income can deduct those expenses for tax purposes, but the House bill severely limits this medical deduction, forcing taxpayers to pay more in out-of-pocket medical expenses.

• A $13.3 billion tax increase achieved through limiting Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).  Under current law, individuals may contribute money to tax-free FSA’s, but the new bill limits this amount, thereby taxing income used for medical expenses.

• $460 billion tax hike on “high-earners.”

• $20 billion tax on the sale or lease of medical devices … because taxing artificial limbs and pacemakers is the “American Way.”

Click here for the Ways and Means summary.