Tax Simplification – or just forms fiddling?

Trish McIntire is unimpressed by sample forms used to demonstrate the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010:

If you want to simplify the tax code, simplify the confusing theory and not the forms. All you are doing is using smoke and mirrors to cover the increase in confusion you will be causing.

The tax reform act she refers to does have some useful ideas, particularly the repeal of the Sec. 199 deduction and the insane alternative minimum tax. It has some provisions that also appear unwise on the surface, like the repeal of exclusions for income earned abroad (we have enough people giving up their U.S. passports already). It’s a start, but for a start, you’d like to see something bolder. The lobbyists will be looking to whack away reforms, so you might as well give them as much work to do as possible from the start so that more reforms will survive the whacking.