Proposals for Tax Fairness

As a CPA with a master’s degree in taxation, I have more knowledge about taxes than all the presidential candidates put together. I have three points:

* Steve Forbes is totally wrong when he says interest paid has been taxed at the source. Dividends, yes, but not interest. When a corporation pays out interest, it takes a tax deduction for the payment, so it has only paid tax on its profit.

* Dividends are taxed twice, and for no good reason. Rather than giving them tax-free to the shareholder, let the corporation deduct the payment. That will increase cash flow, allowing the corporation to increase its profits, dividend payout and stock value. Everyone wins and it still removes double taxation.

* The tax code is complex for one reason: Tax shelters needed to be stopped, so the alternative minimum tax and passive loss rules were passed. Guess what? They worked. Now the wealthy actually pay taxes and are unable to use those same shelters. And now they want to simplify things! The basic return is simple and the tax code for the basic return could be 10 pages. The additional 4,990 pages are for complicated issues, 90% of which were brought on by people trying not to pay their taxes.

ROD CLARIDA

Brea