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Strategies & Market Trends : Income Taxes and Record Keeping ( tax ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Shawn Donahue who wrote (1030)	4/15/1998 8:02:00 PM
From: Colin Cody	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5810

You have MANY misinformed thoughts in your post "avoid all this complicated tax filing," TAXES on INDIVIDUAL INCOME are NOT COMPLICATED AT ALL for the MAJORITY of TAXPAYERS. If an adult hasn't the IQ to complete a form 1040-EZ on their own in about 5 minutes or less, they don't belong out walking the streets with the rest of us. The 1040-TeleFile the 1040-e.file and the 1040-A are also VERY SIMPLE annual reporting methods that if they haven't the IQ to fill out - I wonder what someone is PAYING them as employees to do?!!! "Bill Clintons gift of moving the long term capital gains time requirement out to 18 Months!" CLINTON HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ORIGINATION OF, DRAFTING OF, OR DISCUSSION OF THE 18 MONTH RULE. "I realize that alot of CPA's and Tax Filing services like H&R Block are against simplifying our tax filing nightmare, as their income depends on us confused taxpayers needing their help!" H&R BLOCK DOES IN FACT GET MUCH INCOME FROM DOING 1040-EZ WORK FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE TOO STUPID TO TIE THEIR OWN SHOES & DOING 1040 WORK FOR PEOPLE WITH MORE COMPLICATED SITUATIONS, LIKE THE WELFARE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM CALLED "EARNED INCOME CREDIT" ETC ETC. BUT MENTIONING CPAs IN THE SAME SENTENCE??!! What are your qualifications for telling us what CPAs do? How many CPAs have you employed in the past 10 years? I'd guess ZERO? right? (g) CPAs will have MORE work to do if there are major changes in the tax collection systems, not LESS. How could you suggest that CPAs would have LESS TO DO? Maybe you might list a few things CPAs will NOT be doing with tax reform??? "But, they can do as my CPA does and learn to make money investing in stocks and through owning investment properties...and because of this, he definitely knows how to file taxes for a stock investor!" OPPS I SEE YOU HAVE A CPA. SO YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER!!! DO YOU actually THINK THAT IF SOME 1040 RETURNS ARE ELIMINATED THAT THAT WILL MAKE ACCOUNTING FOR INVESTMENT PROPERTIES SIGNIFICANTLY EASIER? "Or better yet, CPA's can become financial planners and actually help us to make money" HUH? ISN'T THAT EXACTLY WHAT CPAs DO RIGHT NOW?!! Colin, adding some common sense to the discussion

To: Shawn Donahue who wrote (1030)	4/15/1998 8:22:00 PM
From: Colin Cody	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5810

Shawn, just saw your closing statements: "PS: PLEASE VOTE FOR A FLAT TAX SO WE CAN SOMEDAY NOT LOSE SLEEP AND DREAD THE 15th of April" . #1 there is NO VOTE for us being taken for "a flat tax" #2 we already HAD a flat tax voted in by Congress/Regan in the mid 1980s, REMEMBER? there were TWO rates 15% and 28% most all deductions were eliminated. An increased/simplified "standard deduction" eliminated "itemizing" for the majority of taxpayers AND exempted those making the lowest incomes from even paying the 15% rate! #3 we ALREADY have a "postcard size" tax return. Form 1040-EZ call 800-TAX-FORM and get a copy of it. very simple, and still pretty "flat" #4 you claimed "WE CAN SOMEDAY NOT LOSE SLEEP AND DREAD THE 15th of April" A flat tax rate would do NOTHING to change the filing date or the computations necessary to compute income. Let's SAY you do investments in STOCKS. JUST AS WITH TODAY, you'd need to keep track of your costs and your sales and you'd need to compute the gains. Same thing. Only instead of the CRAZY RATES we have today for STOCKS and INVESTMENTS: 8% 10% 18% 20% 22% 25% 28% 31% 36% and 39.6%. We'd have JUST ONE RATE, say 33%. OK so THAT 15 minutes of calculation from 1997s Schedule D would be gone.. along with the 10% 20% and other LOW RATES. THAT's what you call an IMPROVEMENT? I'll spend 30 minutes extra each year and keep the lower rates thank you!!! Colin