Realty companies campaign to repeal IRS tax code.

Nearly 5,000 realty companies are part of campaign to repeal the IRS Code. They have united with hundreds of thousands of business owners under the banner of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the nation's largest small-business advocacy group, launching a nationwide petition drive calling upon the President and Congress to abolish the IRS Code.

This grassroots effort aims to repeal the code by December 31, 2000, replacing it with a simpler, fairer tax code that all Americans can understand. The campaign began with a motor coach tour across Missouri, and at a series of rallies along the way, small business owners signed petitions and federal and state lawmakers showed their support.

The petition drive has a goal of gathering one billion signatures by June 1998 for the opening of NFIB's Congressional Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C. Ultimately, the petitions will be presented to Congress as a "million reasons to stop talking about the code and to take the kind of action that taxpayers want," according to NFIB organizers.

"Congress will hear the call of millions of small business owners who want the IRS Code eliminated," said Jack Faris, president and CEO of NFIB. "We will provide a framework for national debate regarding the replacement of the current system with one that has lower taxes, fosters growth, and is fair and simple."

Why are so many calling for an end to the current tax code? Consider what has happened in the last 84 years, Faris said. In 1913, the first income tax began as a one-page form, 14 pages of tax law and a top tax rate of 7 percent. It has evolved into the current tax code of several million words and 33 pages of instructions for the IRS' simplest return form - the EZ Form 1040, according to NFIB. The IRS Form 1040 now comes with 76 pages of instructions.

"Unfortunately, even the positive steps of tax reform that take place involve modifying the current code, making it even longer and more confusing," said Faris.

This year, American business owners will spend $3.4 billion hours and individuals will spend 1.7 billion hours trying to comply with the tax code, according to NFIB. That is the equivalent of three million people working full-time, year-round, just on taxes.

"Our country cannot remain prosperous and dynamic if we continue to over-tax and overburden American production; if we continue to search only for ways to eke out revenue from sources that are fast drying up," said Faris. "We need to tear down the IRS code and replace it with a system that is fair for all taxpayers, is simple to understand, and is stable, so that people can plan for the future."

For more information about the Campaign to Abolish the IRS Code, call 1-888-NOT4-IRS, or visit the campaign's Web site at www.not4irs.org. To learn more about NFIB, visit its Web site at www.nfibonline.com.