Make mine a root canal

By Thomas Lifson

The Calgary Sun reports that Canadians would choose a root canal over a tax audit, if able to choose one and avoid the other:

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation recently released the results of a survey asking Canadians if they prefer a root canal over an audit from Ottawa's taxman.

Of the 1,445 Canadians surveyed, 47% picked dental surgery as the more unpleasant experience. But an amazing 38% voted for a knock on the door from the Revenue Canada auditors as worse.

I have been audited twice in my left by the IRS, including one of those check every last detail audits, for which I had to provide a check number or credit card transaction number for every single item I claimed as a tax deduction. Since I used to travel on business a fair amount, this meant every airport parking charge, every meal, every taxi ride. I would take two root canals over that, for it cost me many days of time to unearth and record every single transaction for the IRS. Net result: zero change in my tax liability for the big audit, and thousands of dollar returned to me on the lesser one, since I was negligent in claiming certain expenses that turned out to be perfectly legitimate. I'd still take the root canal.

The politician who finally reforms our tax system so it is simple and (I hope) based on consumption, not income, will have statues errected in his or her honor in nore than half the counties of America within two decades.