The Tax Deception

Do you think tax policy is too complex for mere mortals to understand? It isn’t. When you finish reading The Tax Deception, you'll be able to clearly and authoritatively discus tax policy with everyone from your spouse, to your congressman. You’ll be able to persuasively advocate for your favored tax policy on social media and at town hall events. Though it's difficult to call a book on tax policy entertaining, you certainly won't be bored. In fact, Former Governor Mike Huckabee calls the book "brilliant” and said that it “should be read by Democrats and Republicans alike.” It takes years to become an economist. But in the short time it takes to read The Tax Deception, you'll learn to know when politicians and certain biased think tank economists are trying to deceive you about taxes. You’ll learn to spot the red flags in their tax plans and know what questions to ask, it you spot one. In specific, you’ll be armed with a clear understanding of tax policy that many of those in power have been trying to hide from voters. When it comes to taxes, an informed voter is the last person many members of Congress want to have asking questions at a town hall. They know that one properly phrased question can shatter their narrative on taxes and make everyone present aware of their tax deception. After reading The Tax Deception, you’ll know if your members of Congress are part of the solution or part of the problem. Avoiding the use of the complex econobabble, of which most books on tax policy are filled, John Gaver breaks down tax policy into clear, bite-sized pieces, using plain English. In The Tax Deception, John evaluates four types of tax policy. The first is our current progressive income tax, against which the remaining three are compared. The second and third are two long-lived tax bills that exist in the current (118th) congress. They are the Flat Tax, H.R.1040 and the FAIRtax, H.R.25. A fourth tax plan is also compared, since unlike the FAIRtax, many variations of a flat tax have been proposed and there would certainly be people who would claim that H.R.1040 was not the best version to be compared. So, this “ideal flat tax” is designed to present a flat tax in the best possible light and overcome any shortcomings of H.R.1040 or any other flat tax proposals. This brings us to the book’s goals for tax reform. To make the whole evaluation of tax policy easily understood, John breaks tax policy down into 22 compact issues. These are more specifically, 22 problems that exist in our current tax code. He clearly explains why each issue is deserving of attention and then establishes a goal for tax reform that will address that specific problem. He goes on to compare how each of the three types of tax reform rate, against each of the 22 identified goals. By breaking tax policy into bite-sized pieces and addressing each goal, one-at-a-time, he makes clear, what was once thought to be incomprehensible econobabble. To illustrate his points, he uses charts, tables, and graphics, throughout the book. When he refers to a calculation, he shows you the calculation and it's always simple and straight forward. When he cites a statistic, he includes a footnote, with the URL to the source. In fact, for those who want to do their own research, John provides 76 such footnotes. So, while reading The Tax Deception won’t make you an economist, you'll almost certainly gain enough high level knowledge of taxation that those in power will find it very difficult to ever again deceive you about tax policy. Furthermore, if they try, they’ll be facing one of their greatest fears – an informed constituent. Regardless of whether you agree with John's analysis, after reading "The Tax Deception", you'll end up with a much clearer understanding of tax reform issues and have the ability to more coherently advocate for the tax plan of your choice.