Posted by Congressman John Campbell at 12:00 am on May 03, 2006 3 Comments
I was struggling about what to discuss in my first blog to the
FlashReport. And then Jon Fleischman ran the as the “golden pen” a
column by Arnold’s former budget Director Tom Campbell (no
relation). Jon, you handed me an issue on a golden platter.
Tom Campbell wrote about how we should let the state taxing
authority (the franchise tax board (FTB)) fill out our tax returns
on line. I could not disagree more.
I fought this issue while in the state legislature and am now
fighting it in Washington with the IRS. As a taxpayer, you want to
pay the lowest possible amount of tax that is legal. That is not
the IRS’s goal. There are many gray areas in the tax law. The IRS
will not interpret them to your advantage. It’s a conflict of
interest. It’s like letting another player play your poker
hand.
There are various commercial services (like Turbo tax) that have
free online tax preparation programs if you want to save a buck on
preparation. They have a motivation to help you find the lowest
legal tax. But… Read More