Simplifying tax laws a pipe dream?

THE relevant cliche here is Einstein's famous line, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” It's a cliche because it's true. Consider that every major country in the modern era has set out to reform and make simple its tax laws. None has succeeded.

The United States was among the first to do so when President Reagan introduced the landmark 1986 Tax Reform Act, a law touted to achieve simplicity. Complexity soon crept back and in 2005, President Bush set out to make the tax law simpler yet again.