SenatorTedCruz@gmail.com

The press reports that you have expressed a desire to simplify our tax law so that “most” federal taxpayers will be able to send in their returns “on a postcard”. I think this is a highly commendable goal, and I would like to be of any assistance I can in helping you to achieve it. One of the first requirements of course would be to draw up a sensible tax structure, in which the wealthy, instead of the poor, bear the biggest burden. So we should begin by throwing the present 3,000-odd page tax code out the window (and all state and local taxes as well), and replacing it with a single federal personal wealth tax. No more income taxes, sales taxes, payroll taxes, Social Security taxes, corporate taxes, fuel-surplus fees, special gasoline taxes, or all the other add-ons that have accrued over the years. Back to basics. One single tax. One postcard.

• Taxes will be levied on personal property only, and then only on one figure — net worth. (Net worth is all one’s assents less all one’s obligations. Citizens with zero or negative net worth should pay no taxes.)

• The aggregate value of all the property in the country, except what is owned by the government (that’s all of us together), is our official National Net Worth. We should tax that only exactly enough to balance the National Budget. (Everything not government-owned is in the end owned by some real person, not a company or an organization or a church or a foundation. Real people own these entities by means of shares. All ownership is thus finally vested in individual people, regardless of where, in what city or state or country they say they, or their assets, exist.)

• The tax rate thus becomes a simple problem in third-grade level long division : The Total National Budget divided by National Net Worth equals the percent of the national net worth that must be devoted to paying for the budget, which will be that year’s tax rate. Each of us needs to contribute that percent of our personal wealth. We all pay the same rate.

• Each person’s net worth can be calculated by that person, as we all now do. We do the math on our own 1040s, and the IRS accepts our calculations, subject only to random checking. (The penalty for omitting an asset — deliberately or accidentally — will be confiscation and public auction, with a reserve price set by a government appraiser and with the original filer being granted the privilege — after paying a substantial fine — of matching the highest public bid.)

Individual tax returns will thus fit quite easily on a postcard :

• 1. Name, address, and social security number (for spouse as well, if a joint return) ____________________________________________________.

  2. Net worth (less a standard deduction for dependents and an adjustment for low income): $__________. (Details available on request.)

  3. Amount of tax due at X%. (X is based on the previous year’s Total National Net Worth and the National Budget for the coming year. The rate is the same for everyone.) $________.

And there you have it. What could be simpler? How much bureaucratic expense will be eliminated by this simple step? I don’t know, but your $4,722,899 a year Senatorial allowance should be enough to cover a study by your staff to figure it out. If you have questions, you may reach me by commenting on this blog.

You’re welcome.