For Immediate Release
April 14, 2015
Contact: Billy Hesterman
801-633-3663
Every April 15th, citizens and non-citizens, residents and US expatriates alike must file state and federal income tax returns in order to settle up with the government. With that realization comes the duty of fighting though the complex tax code to determine how much is owed to the IRS each year. This results in additional costs to the taxpayer.
“The tax code has become so arduous that your every day Utahn now has to either pay someone or purchase a software program to even file a simple tax return. That should not be the case,” said Billy Hesterman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association. “The burden of paying your taxes shouldn’t include having to hire a trained professional or purchasing software. It should be easy enough to understand so that every American knows what they pay, why they pay and how that money is being spent.”
According to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, $233.8 billion is spent by Americans each year to comply with the nation’s tax laws. In addition, 6.1 billion hours are spent in efforts to follow the tax code.
Taxpayers should call upon state and federal lawmakers to reform the tax code so that families and businesses can easily understand their tax return and understand how their taxes are being used.
“Complexity in the system is only there to protect one entity, the government,” Hesterman said. “We hope lawmakers will work to simplify the tax code and not require these additional burdens on taxpayers that come from an unnecessarily complex tax system.”
Read more about how the complex tax system is hurting taxpayers here: http://www.