Avoiding Taxes

My favorite gripe is the income tax structure that allows so many people to avoid paying their share of taxes. I am not talking about the more sophisticated persons who juggle the numbers and other methods of avoiding taxes.

This is about the millions of small (usually) businessmen who get paid in cash. They report only enough (if any) income to provide some pretense of honesty. They take cash and pay in cash (like drug dealers). The government could pay off its debts a lot faster if some of this huge sum of money was reported and taxes were paid. Nobody talks about this. Why?

A sales tax of 5% on everything except food, medicine and rents under $700 a month would get some money from everybody, including the crooks.

MIKE SAVAGE

Rancho Mirage