Albert Einstein

May I offer a corollary to the famous quote used in the title: The most taxing activity in the world is doing one’s taxes.

Many people would guess the Professor dislikes taxes because they fund wars, but that is not likely to be true. Much as he separated the abuse of the (technological) fruits of science from the religious experience of pursuing knowledge of the cosmos, he would separate taxation from the common usage (abuse?) of the funds. Civilization must be funded and we should not begrudge donating our share, and he would also be solidly behind proper use of tax revenue to truly help people. His protest would be more with the system than the fact of taxes. I have beaten home the point that the Professor never liked anything complicating his life, so he surely would prefer to pay a bit more as long as he never would have to spend time thinking about it!

Among Einstein’s most quoted thoughts is “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” This was said referring to understanding the laws of nature, but he lived his life this way. He would surely prefer a more linear tax rate that was initially lower in exchange for removal of the deduction process. Just start with a real income number (net after true expenses of earning the money, a short and simple list when we’re honest about things) and leave it at that. The amount we’d pay would be a bit higher, but if you figure what time, effort (and stress) is worth we’d save money. The government would not only make a bit more, they’d save tons on their part of the tax work.
Here’s a mind boggling puzzle: What percentage of tax revenue is needed only to fund the act of taxation?

Did Einstein ever really sit down and work on a tax form for himself? He did (allegedly) say “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” That definitely sounds like something used to confuse a “revenuer.” Perhaps he was referring to tax auditors when he said “Force always attracts men of low morality.”

For such a famous and important man he had little use for money or material things, and he did not amass nearly what he could have. This would have seemed suspicious, and we know the FBI loved to make files about him, it stands to reason they would have asked the treasury department to do the same. Eliott Ness would have grilled him personally!

Eliott Ness
Mr. Einstein, do you deny that it is possible that you made mistakes in your calculation?

Albert Einstein
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

Eliott Ness
Am I supposed to believe that these figures reflect the reality of your situation?

Albert Einstein
“As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.”

Eliott Ness
Nobody shows the real records. I’m sure a guy like you writes down everything. Let me see your real books.

Albert Einstein
I don’t keep books, records, recordings of anything. That’s too complicated.

Eliott Ness
Really? You must record your scientific thoughts. Could I see the book where you jot down all of your great ideas?

Albert Einstein
“You ask me if I keep a notebook to record my great ideas. I’ve only ever had one.”

Eliott Ness
Come on Mr. Einstein, even false modesty has its limits. I can’t trust anyone who forgets that.

Albert Einstein
By all means it has limits, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” As far as the latter, when you figure out how to tax stupidity the budget will be balanced forever.

Eliott Ness
Let me get to the point, we have great men in government working hard on the country’s, even the world’s problems, and they need money to do it. Now I’m just a regular guy, but even I know great intellectuals solving problems like that deserve our backing.

Albert Einstein
Waste of money, “Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.”

Eliott Ness
Are you saying you filled out this form honestly, no fudging the numbers?

Albert Einstein
“A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.”

On the other hand, we know he didn’t have a clue what is is like for us filling out 21st Century tax forms, because then he would have never said to anyone else “Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.”