Preparing for Tuesday's primaries

[Super Mom]

I've looked at the candidate websites on the issues. I'm trying to wrap my mind around Cruz's claim to have a 16% business flat tax on gross income minus expenses and capital expenditures and abolish the IRS as we know it. I'm thinking the regs on what business expenses you can claim, COGS, and capital expenditures would pretty much be the same as the IRS just maybe he will rename it? Any opinions on this?

[David1980]

Everyone loves to hate the IRS

It's cool to hate the IRS. Everyone hates the IRS. That said, I think his plan is basically renaming things rather than abolishing anything. He would shift tracking and collection of taxes to "some much smaller division" of the Treasury Department. So there would still be a service of internal revenue within the Treasury Department and we just wouldn't call it the Internal Revenue Service.

The tax simplification could result in less work for the new IRS department and it could be smaller. Possibly he also wants to see less tax enforcement though I haven't actually seen anything one way or the other on that.

[TAX4US]

I am still trying to figure out how to do some of these returns on a POSTCARD?

[taxea]

Cruz will say anything to get elected.

POSTCARD TAXES:

How much income did you make?
Send it in.

[Jiggers]

Cruz needs to get some great tax advice from some of us vintage tax return preparers before talking about something you have no clue about!

Most of those that make such suggestions assume that everyone receives a W-2 or 1099R. They know nothing about self-employed/business/corporate/partnership income.

Then you get into rentals.

And on the self-employed, especially farmers, who use the "Hip-pocket National Bank", aka cash.

And define gross and net and what is and is not deductible.

The best tax code was the one that Reagan passed. Simple brackets, simple depreciation. Then Congress screwed it up.

[kathyc2]

I am still trying to figure out how to do some of these returns on a POSTCARD?

His campaign site shows the postcard: https://www.tedcruz.org/tax_plan/

Don't even need to show the names or SSN of dependents. LOL!

[Rapid Robert]

Already have a flat tax in place

Many even in the industry seem to ignore that we already have a flat tax, it's called AMT. Doesn't matter how many kids you have or how old you are, relatively few deductions and credits allowed, a "single" 26/28% ordinary rate, and a cap gains rate. Depreciation is relatively simple. The exemption phase-out makes it a little trickier, but that could be tweaked.

If only we could see a true Form 1040-AMT, people would realize how simple our existing flat tax is compared to the regular tax.

[taxtimeagain]

With identity theft being so prevalent who in their right mind would put their social security number on a postcard? Wow...not much thought went into this one.