Some of the most intractable problems plaguing the federal tax system have been around for a long time. Complaints about complexity, for instance, appeared before Congress even finished drafting the modern income tax in 1913.
“I guess you will have to go to jail,” wrote Sen. Elihu Root to a correspondent while the bill was still being debated. (Prior analysis: Tax Notes, Sept. 30, 2013, p. 1490.) “If that is the result of not understanding the Income Tax law I shall meet you there. We will have a merry, merry time, for all our friends will be there. It will be an intellectual center, for no one understands the Income Tax law except persons who have not sufficient intelligence to understand the questions that arise under it.”
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