Loophole: I read on article on the origins of certain terms we use every day. One word, loophole, was originally a narrow hole or slit which castle archers could use to defend the castle. It was placed there intentionally.
When we see the term “tax loophole” the context generally suggests that an individual or businesses are unfairly lowering taxes below what was intended by our law makers.
I have a problem with the connotation of a tax loophole is not there deliberately. Assuming otherwise, would be to assume our law makers don’t really know how the tax code works, or even what’s in it. We pay them to write the tax code, so we should be able to expect them to at least have a general idea of how it works and what’s in it. If the tax code is so opaque that our legislators don’t understand it, then they should try to simplify the tax code enough that they can understand it. Claiming tax loopholes are a bad thing is just an excuse to try to shift blame from incompetent legislators onto the taxpayers.
