I disagree that income tax is a bad thing. What other way does the government have of maintaining fairness across

I am a relative novice in taxation policies, and among other things, I would like to hear recommendations from people in this list about books and/or articles to read, but the bad thing about income taxes is that it "gives" the government the "right" to snoop into all your affairs because they have to know what your income is. Having grown up in another country and lived in other countries, (that also have income taxes), but don't intrude so much into your private life, I must say that I was shocked the first time that I had to file an income tax declaration in the USA! Of all the countries where I have lived (four or five), this is the only place where *individuals* need to keep ridiculously detailed records of everything! And the only country I know where individuals routinely have to hire an accountant to be able to file a tax return ... Is moving to a consuption-based tax system part of the solution or not? Luis PS: I realize that this is not exactly a cypher issue, so is there a better place to discuss it?