(Washington, D.C.) Today, as thousands of people in Eastern Washington drop off their tax forms at the post office, they’re reminded of how much they pay in taxes—and how complicated paying taxes is.

Some facts to consider:

• The Tax Foundation reports the Internal Revenue Code pertaining to federal income taxes contained 1,283,000 words. That is 282 times as many words as the Constitution.
• In Fiscal Year 2006, the IRS estimated that individual and business taxpayers spent 6.65 billion hours complying with the tax laws. That is the equivalent of 3.2 million employees working 40-hour weeks year-round without any vacation.
• The 1040EZ form, the “simplest” in the IRS inventory, on average required 3 hours and 46 minutes to complete, up from 1 hour and 31 minutes in 1988.

“The numbers clearly show our tax system overburdens and overtaxes Americans,” Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers says. “We need to work to keep taxes low. We cannot tax our way to job creation and economic stability.”

In order to improve the economy and simplify our tax structure, McMorris Rodgers:

Supports making the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 permanent. If these tax cuts were to expire, the average person in Washington State would pay $3,065 more in taxes, the 12th largest increase in the country.

Cosponsored the Taxpayer Choice Act of 2007 (H.R. 3818) which repeals the alternative minimum tax and offers taxpayers a choice between the current tax system or a simpler one.

Cosponsored the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2007 (H.R. 1586) which abolishes any form of tax triggered by death, inheritance, and gifting.

Cosponsored the Seniors Tax Simplification Act (H.R. 432) which directs the IRS to create a new, easier form for seniors to fill out. Taxpayers older than 65 are not allowed to fill out the 1040EZ form.

Contact:
Destry Henderson
202-225-2006
202-279-0418