Trump and the IRS

[MadameButterfly]

So, is he serious about eliminating the IRS, or is he just saying it for shock value, while planning all kinds of changes which can only happen if the IRS exists.

I know lots of wealthy people don't want to pay taxes, but don't they also rely on the tax codes to make a lot of money? Where is real estate without depreciation and deductions on interest? Won't Republicans want to keep it, never mind the Democrats? Wouldn't a whole lot of people go out of business and further trash the economy?

I'd like to hear from people who understand this stuff whether this is something we need to worry about. How could this happen, who would have to vote on it, would anyone in Congress vote for it, can Trump and Elon just decide?

Asking for a friend.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. That's a lot of questions

If he does eliminate the IRS it will be like a descent into 1834 Dickensian England. Surely these clowns know people do their jobs for money. The tax codes motivate people to comply and Congress over many decades has enacted rules, deductions, worksheets, schedules to require, motivate certain behavior. If you eliminate deductions for improvements on rental units, for example, guess what? Landlords will stop improving. Soon you'll be in quite a fix. Contractors will have far fewer jobs.

I suppose in a dictatorship it could all happen with a penstroke. Dissolve Congress, close the IRS. But yeah people, politicians, businesses would all have questions and make an uproar. And government would stop. Chaos. The FBI is finis, except for inventing crimes against Trump? Criminals would like to know.

The whole thing is unworkable. Propertied classes will act to protect their own, which should keep the system intact to a large degree. You can't remake the world

[MadameButterfly]

2. Yeah, that's what I thought

but thank you for articulating it so well.
Just hope someone can get through to the Emeror and his joker