Ronald Reagan once said “The taxpayer – that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination”. How true it is. Each year we seem to work more and more for the federal government and less and less for the benefit of ourselves.

It now seems as though Congress may pass the legislation agreed to by President Obama and the Republicans, yet with Congress, nothing would surprise us. It seems as though everyone has some problem with the agreement, as do we, but some certainty regarding taxes is needed to get the economy moving.

We’ve written previously that we felt one of the big problems with the slow economic recovery was the lack of confidence resulting from so many unknowns: What would happen to taxes January 1st?; How would the estate tax mess be resolved?; What will the impact of the new healthcare legislation be on businesses and individuals?; What impact will new federal regulations have on the economy?

Now, it appears that two of these questions may soon be answered. Income tax rates and estate tax rates will be clearly defined for at least for a couple of years if Congress approves the President’s deal. It would certainly be better if the agreement provided longer-term certainty, but at least businesses and individuals can make some intelligent short-term decisions.

There’s also now talk of trying to simplify the taxes to eliminate loopholes and increase revenues. The tax code is so complex now that it’s tough for honest taxpayers to prepare an accurate return. In many cases, we expect that the IRS employees themselves don’t know how to accurately calculate what’s due, let alone ferret out the cheaters. As Will Rogers once said: “Income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has.” You might want to start early on your 2010 return, if you can figure out what the latest rules are.

Quotes from “The Quotable Investor”, published by The Lyons Press.