Taxes: Simplicity, Fairness, and Freedom

Every year, millions of Americans sit down to do their taxes and end up wondering how something so straightforward got so complicated. Ordinary people spend countless hours filling out forms and paying accountants, while billion-dollar companies hire lobbyists to make sure they never do. That’s not a fair system. It’s a rigged one.

A tax code should be understandable to the people who pay it. If it takes you longer to file your taxes than it does to earn them, something’s wrong. Washington’s complexity is not an accident, it’s a design. Every loophole, exemption, and credit is a favor for someone with enough influence to buy it.

We can fix that, but it means rebuilding the system around simplicity and fairness, not political power.

What’s Gone Wrong

1. The tax code is intentionally confusing. The rules are written by and for insiders. The complexity keeps regular people dependent on tax preparers while letting those with armies of accountants find ways around the system. It shouldn’t take a professional license to understand how much you owe your own government.

2. Big corporations and high earners use loopholes to dodge responsibility. They shift profits overseas, rewrite depreciation rules, and exploit carve-outs that don’t apply to ordinary businesses. Meanwhile, the small family-run operation down the street ends up paying a higher effective rate than multinational corporations.

3. Payroll taxes punish work and small employers. Employers are forced to act as unpaid tax collectors for Washington. For small businesses already fighting to stay afloat, that’s time, money, and energy that could go toward creating jobs and raising wages.

Practical Reforms

Make taxes simple enough for anyone to file in under an hour. The average person shouldn’t need special software or a CPA. The system should be clear, direct, and written in plain English.

Close the loopholes for the powerful. If a deduction or credit doesn’t serve ordinary taxpayers or small businesses, it’s gone. Everyone should play by the same rules.

Ensure small businesses never pay a higher effective rate than the big guys. Tax fairness means rewarding people who take risks, hire workers, and build in their own communities, not those who move profits offshore.

Rethink payroll taxes. Businesses shouldn’t have to do the government’s job. Streamline or eliminate the employer-side burden so owners can focus on growth, not paperwork.

Flatten and lower rates where possible. A simpler, flatter system with fewer brackets means fewer games to play and more predictability for workers and entrepreneurs.

The Moral and Economic Case

A fair tax system rewards work, not wealth. It lifts the people who create value instead of those who exploit loopholes. Every dollar the government takes should be justified, simple to account for, and spent responsibly. The current system does none of that.

Simpler taxes also mean less opportunity for corruption. When the rules are clear, politicians can’t sell special treatment in the fine print. When everyone pays their fair share, trust in government starts to rebuild.

The Goal

Taxes should be simple, honest, and fair. No more hidden breaks for the connected, no more punishment for the people doing the work.

We can have a tax system that respects your time, your effort, and your intelligence. That’s what real reform looks like and that’s what I’ll fight for.