Another year has passed, and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld still has not seen his desire
for a simplified tax code come to pass.
Rumsfeld tweeted a copy of his annual letter to the Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday, admitting that the code is so complicated he has no idea whether he has paid the right amount of taxes.
Rumsfeld says in the letter that he is filing an extension because he has yet to receive all the documents needed.
"As in prior years, I consider it important to confess to you folks that I have no idea whether our tax returns and the tax payment estimates are accurate," he wrote. "I say that despite the fact that I went to college, that we try hard to make sure our returns and payments are accurate, and the fact that we retained an experienced and time-tested tax accounting firm to assist in preparing our returns."
The tax code is so complex that neither he and his wife, nor countless other Americans, can know whether their returns are correct, he said.
"This is a sad commentary on our government," Rumsfeld wrote.
"I hope that at some point in my lifetime, and I am now in my 80s, the U.S. government will radically simplify the U.S. tax code so that all of those willing to pay what is required are able to do so with confidence and know that they have done it correctly," he said in the letter.
Rumsfeld sent an almost identical letter last year, and told members of the media he has done so for several years.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.