My income tax must be paid within a few weeks.

i hate it.

I'm pretty good at math, but I don't prepare my own taxes anymore. The shape alone is scary.

I feel like I need to hire an accountant. Because Congress is sucked in endlessly by various interest groups and keeps adding to the tax code. Nowadays, even accountants and tax geeks barely understand it.

You will get points deducted for feeding a stray cat, but you won't get points deducted for keeping a guard dog.

You can deduct clarinet lessons if your orthodontist tells you it will cure your overbite, but you can't deduct it if your psychotherapist prescribes piano lessons for relaxation. (Related: John Stossel: Is AI coming to your job?)

Exotic dancers can undermine the value of breast implants.

Whaling is mostly prohibited, but those who own a whaling vessel can receive a $10,000 tax deduction.

and so on.

Stop! I have a life! I don't want to spend time learning such things.

No wonder most Americans pay for some form of aid. We pay a lot of money – about $104 billion a year. He wastes 2 billion hours on us filling out stupid forms.

That may not even be the worst part of the tax code.

We adjust our lives to meet the whims of politicians. They manipulate us with tax rules. Multi-million dollar mortgage deductions encourage us to buy bigger homes. Thanks to solar tax credits, we were able to install panels on our roof.

“These incentives are a good thing,” the politician says. “Even high taxes alone encourage giving to charity.

But “Americans don't have to accept bribes to donate,” says Steve Forbes. “When the top tax rate was lowered from 70% to 28% in the 1980s…charitable donations stopped being made. Up. When people have more, they give more. ”

right. Good things happen when governments allow us to live our lives.

But politicians want more Control.

American colonists started a revolution partly over taxes. They attacked British ships and dumped tea into Boston Harbor in protest of the “three pennies per pound” tax. But once those “don't tax me!” colonists became politicians, they raised taxes, too. First, they taxed things they considered bad, such as snuff and whiskey.

Alexander Hamilton's whiskey tax sparked violent protests.

Now, Americans (for the most part) have meekly accepted new and much higher taxes.

We all suffer because politicians have turned income taxes into a manipulative maze.

You end up wasting money and time doing things you wouldn't normally do.

I think IRS agents are trying to come after me because I criticize the government.

So, cringing in fear, I hired an accountant and said: “Megan, don't be aggressive. Skip any deductions you dispute, even if it means I pay more.”

I like having an accountant, but I don't like it. have To have one. I'm upset that I have to pay Megan.

I once calculated what I could buy with the money I paid her. She was able to get a brand new bike. I was also able to take a cruise ship and go back and forth to Italy every year.

Even better, you might be able to do some good in the world by donating your money to charity. The same amount of money you spend on Megan could pay tuition for four children attending private schools funded by SSPNYC.org.

Or maybe you can invest. I could help grow a company that develops fun products, cures cancer, and creates wealth in many other ways.

But I can't do that. I have to pay Megan.

What a waste.

Mr. Stossel posts a new video every Tuesday on JohnStossel.com about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Scammers, Fraudsters, Fraudsters and the Liberal Media's Scourge''.

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