Consumption-based Taxation

If there's one topic that really drives me, it would be a shift to a national sales-tax or VAT. Why do I have to tell the government how much money I made? Why do profitable criminal enterprises pay no taxes? Why do we discriminate against investment and saving? And why, why, why is this true:
"1. The U.S. "tax army" is bigger than the U.S. army in Iraq. Income taxes are so complex that there are up to 1.2 million paid tax preparers in the country -- six times more than the number of troops in Iraq. The tax army includes legions of accountants, lawyers, and computer experts -- some of the best minds in the country. Unfortunately, their brainpower is adding little to the nation's standard of living."

UPDATE: And David Keating says it is getting worse!