Hepner’s tax logic not on target

The Edmond Sun

EDMOND April 22, 2008 12:27 pm

— To the Editor:
Mickey Hepner’s views of paying tax on tax does not convince me. He claimed the IRS said the American taxpayer will spend an average of 26.4 hours and $207 to complete and file their tax return. Later on he says 26.4 hours times $17.92 per hour plus the $270 would equate to $680.09 to file a tax return.
It is much cheaper to purchase Turbo Tax and use it to compute and file taxes. Using the interview method of Turbo Tax really simplifies filing a tax return. Using electronic filing helps the state tax folks and the IRS to enter our return, analyze it and send the refund to our designated bank account.
Let Turbo Tax keep up with all of the tax rules. Mickey, with my $16,000 deduction for medical expense; I don’t want to use the standard deduction. What I would like is to deduct the full amount of my medical expenses instead of deducting only the portion that exceeds the three percent “threshold tax.” Tax matters are not as simple nor complex as you would make us believe.
Initially, the Alternative Minimum Tax was to ensure that individuals with high incomes would not avoid paying their fair share of taxes. I will admit that the Alternative Minimum Tax probably should apply only to those with income greater than $500,000 rather than $100,000.

Jerry Scott
Edmond