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Audiobook10 hours
A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and More Efficient Tax System
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
The U.S. tax code is a total write-off. Crammed with loopholes and special interest provisions, it works for no one except tax lawyers, accountants, and huge corporations. Not for the first time, we have reached a breaking point. That happened in 1922, and again in 1954, and again in 1986. In other words, every thirty-two years. Which means that the next complete overhaul is due in 2018. But what should be in this new tax code? Can we make the U.S. tax system simpler, fairer, and more efficient? Yes, yes, and yes. Can we cut tax rates and still bring in more revenue? Yes.
Other rich countries, from Estonia to New Zealand to the UK-advanced, high-tech, free-market democracies-have all devised tax regimes that are equitable, effective, and easy on the taxpayer. But the United States has languished. So byzantine are the current statutes that, by our government's own estimates, Americans spend six billion hours and $10 billion every year preparing and filing their taxes. In the Netherlands that task takes a mere fifteen minutes! Successful American companies like Apple, Caterpillar, and Google effectively pay no tax at all in some instances because of loopholes that allow them to move profits offshore. Indeed, the dysfunctional tax system has become a major cause of economic inequality.
In A Fine Mess, T. R. Reid crisscrosses the globe in search of the exact solutions to these urgent problems. With an uncanny knack for making a complex subject not just accessible but gripping, he investigates what makes good taxation (no, that's not an oxymoron) and brings that knowledge home where it is needed most. Never talking down or reflexively siding with either wing of politics, T. R. Reid presses the case for sensible root-and-branch reforms with a companionable ebullience. This affects everyone. Doing our taxes will never be America's favorite pastime, but it can and should be so much easier and fairer.
Other rich countries, from Estonia to New Zealand to the UK-advanced, high-tech, free-market democracies-have all devised tax regimes that are equitable, effective, and easy on the taxpayer. But the United States has languished. So byzantine are the current statutes that, by our government's own estimates, Americans spend six billion hours and $10 billion every year preparing and filing their taxes. In the Netherlands that task takes a mere fifteen minutes! Successful American companies like Apple, Caterpillar, and Google effectively pay no tax at all in some instances because of loopholes that allow them to move profits offshore. Indeed, the dysfunctional tax system has become a major cause of economic inequality.
In A Fine Mess, T. R. Reid crisscrosses the globe in search of the exact solutions to these urgent problems. With an uncanny knack for making a complex subject not just accessible but gripping, he investigates what makes good taxation (no, that's not an oxymoron) and brings that knowledge home where it is needed most. Never talking down or reflexively siding with either wing of politics, T. R. Reid presses the case for sensible root-and-branch reforms with a companionable ebullience. This affects everyone. Doing our taxes will never be America's favorite pastime, but it can and should be so much easier and fairer.
Editor's Note
Tax day…
Liberal or conservative, everyone can agree the US tax system needs some work. This accessible read seeks out solutions to our most pressing tax problems from countries around the world.
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Reviews for A Fine Mess
Rating: 4.375 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
8 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great overview of tax systems and ideas for improving the US system.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I never thought I’d read a whole book about tax policy, but this wasn’t too bad. Written very simply and directly, it gives some history of taxation around the world and especially in America, with a broad overview of how our tax system works and how it could be improved, especially by emulating practices that have worked well in other countries. From a center-left POV in general, but I think it’s pretty fair to mainstream viewpoints on all sides.