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Tax breaks no place to hide public policy choices

By Cathy Moran

The US tax code is stuffed with tax breaks to further some social policy or another.  We’ve made it safer for legislators to funnel money to the poor, the parents of college aspirants, those saving for retirement by giving them a tax break than by appropriating money for the purpose deemed worthwhile.

And these are the consumer breaks.  The business tax breaks, to favor one industry or behavior or another, are more prevalent and more complex still.

Kathy Kristof’s article today points out that the tax code has become so complex that most people hire others to prepare their returns and those professionally prepared returns are full of errors!

The national expenditure of talent and money to navigate the tax code is not a rational use of bright people.  Tom Friedman pointed out last week the waste of talent commited by Wall Street developing exotic financial instruments rather than genuinely useful products.

As an electorate, let’s become brave enough to make our policy choices upfront, and not disguised as a matter of taxation.  Consider what the nation could do with the energy and intellect of  accountants and lawyers liberated from tax issues as a result.

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About Cathy Moran

I'm a veteran bankruptcy lawyer and consumer advocate in California's Silicon Valley. I write, teach, and speak in the hopes of expanding understanding of how bankruptcy can make life better in a family's future.

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About The Soapbox

You’ve arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said “try”).

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions. We dig deeper into how to consider bankruptcy and navigate a bankruptcy case.

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Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

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