Simpler Taxes Long Promised, Never Delivered

Tom Purcell on Feb 8, 2021

“Vote us into power and the tax code is the first thing we’re going to fix!” they always promise.

“You’ll be able to complete your tax return on the back of a postcard!” they say with a wink.

“We’re going to make filing so easy we’ll put tax lawyers in the unemployment line!” they say, laughing.

And I laugh and laugh.

Because when they’re voted into power, Republicans do little to nothing to simplify the ever-more-complicated tax code that causes the self-employed to worry about heart attacks, which I can afford even less because my 2021 premium jumped again and I had to switch to an even higher-deductible plan.

Now the Democrats control the White House, the House and the Senate. They promise to tax only the rich and leave the rest of us alone.

And I laugh and laugh - as I brace for new tax complexities that will cause me even more grief.

I’d love to go skiing on gorgeous snow-covered hills and forget about the tax agitations that are already dragging me down.

But I’m afraid to spend the money to go skiing - because, like every year, my tax bill is going to be way higher than I thought it would be.

Gosh, I hate this time of the year.

Copyright 2021 Tom Purcell. Tom Purcell, author of "Misadventures of a 1970's Childhood," a humorous memoir available at amazon.com, is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist and is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons Inc. For info on using this column in your publication or website, contact Sales@cagle.com or call (805) 969-2829. Send comments to Tom at Tom@TomPurcell.com.