Abolish the IRS

One hundred years and one month ago, congress ratified the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution, implementing a tax on personal and business income. The time has come to repeal that amendment, just as was done with the infamous and unpopular 18th Amendment.  Apart from being the most invasive mechanism for the federal government to pry into individuals' privacy, the IRS has, in the last several months, been shown to be tyrannical, and a vehicle for political corruption.  Lois Lerner continues to stonewall Congress in its lawful investigation into the IRS and its illegal, politically motivated and corrupt campaign to silence, harass and/or delay conservative groups who apply for not-for-profit status. Not one IRS employee, administrator or manager to date has been fired, much less imprisoned, for their role in this insidious violation of Americans' privacy.   

But what to do?  First, from a political perspective, and after repeal of the 16th Amendment, that entire department of the Treasury should be disbanded, all employees fired, and all taxpayer records be destroyed in full view of the public, so there's no chance of anyone's private information remaining in the hands of the government. Once the government has a taste of absolute power over people by obtaining, reviewing and retaining their most private financial records, that genie will never go back into the bottle.  That ill gotten leverage must be nullified; the government doesn't get to keep those records in any way, shape or form.

Second, in full acknowledgment that the government needs revenue to operate, a better taxation proposal would be the implementation of a national sales tax on tangible items.  This would completely replace the existing income-based tax structure, and would be collected by the states through their existing tax collection systems, not by the federal government.  State level tax collections would prevent the federal government from indulging in the unavoidable urge to again become tyrannical and corrupt - as it has become now.  We learn from our experiences - and our mistakes.  There would be no tax levied on food, medicine, most health care, philanthropic tithing or the like.  But think about it - what tax structure could be more progressive than a national sales tax?  For individuals, the more you spend, the more tax you pay.  Conversely, those of little means don't tend to spend much on tangibles anyway, and would essentially be exempt from this tax.  Companies would pay a type of value added tax that may enhance or replace certain states' current VAT levies.

There have been several studies that, depending on the details, show that a national sales tax would generate more revenue for the federal government than does the current income based approach.  And it is certainly far less intrusive to the citizenry.  Further, by using already existing collection systems managed by the states, the cost of collection of each tax dollar would be far, far lower than what's being spent by the IRS now.

There is no more universally hated government bureaucracy than the IRS, and it's long past time to kill this evil rabid monster, and replace it with something that's better, more charitable, controllable, and cost effective.