With the exception of H & R Block employees and sadomasochists, no one likes April 15.

Albert Einstein famously said, “The hardes thing in the world to understand is the income tax.”

But it doesn’t need to be this complex. April 15 should be as easy for Americans as it is for Estonians.

Although Estonia only regained its independence in 1991 and has a tiny population of 1.5 million, it isn’t obscure to economists.

One of the poorest countries in the EU, Estonia experienced impressive economic growth before the current fiscal crisis.

Much of this has to do with the country’s adoption of the flat tax. All Estonians, rich and poor, pay an income tax of 20 percent.

Unlike daunted Americans suffering from a Byzantine tax code that requires so much frustration, Estonians spend about 15 minutes each year filling out their tax forms online.

But with such low taxes, who will pay for schools, roads and social security?

An important economic concept that should be considered is that of the Laffer curve.

This comes from the work of Arthur Laffer, one of Ronald Reagan’s top economic advisors. He argued that maximum revenue is generated at a certain tax rate, which is never 100 percent. Before that rate, revenues are low, but after that rate, tax revenues decline. The Laffer curve is an upward-sloping parabola.

After all, many people won’t pay taxes once they become too high and too complex.

Countries such as Russia that were notorious for a lack of compliance with tax laws saw great improvement after introducing the flat tax. Thus the flat tax will help government bureaucrats as much as it will ordinary folks.

But rich people are evil, right? Shouldn’t we tax them until their eyeballs bleed?

Well, no. I am no fan of obscene wealth. However, people who have more money spend more and invest more, which creates more jobs for everyone else. Why should the government rob them of half their income?

We are unquestionably in the middle of arguably the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Americans don’t deserve to suffer even more through high taxes and increasing government spending.

Instead, we need a new Reagan or a new Thatcher who will lead us to prosperity by slashing anachronistic tax codes and embracing economic liberalism, scientifically proven to increase wealth for the people and tax revenues for the government.

It’s no coincidence that tax collectors were among the most evil characters in the Bible.

But that’s only because the Gospels weren’t written in modern-day Estonia.