It is a pain for every American come January 1st. Yes, we all have to fill out the tax forms and send them in by a certain date. But what is truly maddening about the whole procedure is how complicated it has gotten over the years. Did you know that because of America’s complicated tax codes, many corporations from other countries are choosing to go elsewhere? Because of all the tax laws and regulations, many companies have to take up as much as a year to set up shop in this country—whereas in, for example, China and Mexico, the governments in those two countries help companies start up shop in two months. Another problem is that the U.S. government passed legislation in 2010 that actually makes it harder for Americans living overseas to follow the tax codes. The new laws threaten Americans if they do not declare their incomes from non-U.S. sources such as non-U.S. banks or even from their jobs with non-U.S. corporations.

    Before, Americans living overseas simply had to declare their annual income, but as long as it was not over, say $100,000, they were not taxed. Now, they could be taxed regardless of their annual income! To make things worse, the U.S. government, especially through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), could penalize non-U.S. banking institutions if they have American clients if they do not follow U.S. tax laws. To put it mildly, many countries are up in arms about this, and many have made it clear they will not cooperate with the IRS. When the U.S. Congress originally drafted legislation for trying to get tax cheats, the original legislation was to go after very rich people who did not pay their fair share of taxes. Now the laws have become a monster in of themselves—worse than the original problem. As a result, a growing number of Americans are actually giving up their U.S. citizenship and living permanently overseas as citizens of another country.

  None of this is any good for this country. With the way the tax codes are, this country is still bleeding money. Not only that, this country is losing some wealthy and gifted people because of growing flaws in the tax codes that drive away both individuals and whole companies. Even with people wanting to invest in this country, and even with companies that still want to do business here (America still remains the largest economy in the world), this country is losing a great deal of not only large corporations but also small and medium-sized family businesses. Although I do not see it anytime soon, I hope that the tax codes will be changed and simplified. That would be a nice gift for Americans come January 1st.