America's taxes — complex, incomprehensible and unfair

It’s probably not surprising that most Americans consider the current federal tax system to be complex, incomprehensible and unfair.

One national survey found that a majority of Americans, about 56 percent, including similar shares of Democrats and Republicans, view the tax system as unfair. An even larger proportion, 60 percent, felt that some corporations and wealthy people don’t pay their fair share of taxes. 

According to the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), most of the unpaid taxes are the result of tax avoidance by the wealthy and large corporations. No less than 55 of America’s largest corporations paid no taxes last year on billions of dollars of profit. 

In addition, 26 companies avoided paying any federal income tax for the last three years. Also, examples of very wealthy individuals paying little or no taxes in recent years are widely reported.