While the month of March ushers in temperatures above freezing, baseball’s spring training and St. Patrick’s Day, it also marks the time of year when many people grouse about income taxes.

The headaches, muscle cramps and sleepless nights resulting from the hours of poring over inane forms to satisfy sadistic Internal Revenue Service nerds are ripe for some complaints.

Newspaper columnist Dave Barry summed it up: “It’s income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta.”

Stop. Spare your blood vessels. Tax software has eased the burden considerably. Yes, it still takes way too much time just to comply with the law, but it has become simple enough for a circus capuchin to fill out a 1040.

However, the focus for most tax-aggrieved militants is the rates.

With all the grumbling these days, you’d think the government was confiscating babies.

It’s gotten to the point where taxation vilification dominates political rallies. And while that has been going on around the world for centuries, today’s protesters in this country are among the shrillest.

Given the rhetoric coming from some people, one wonders if they feel there should be no taxes at all.

Benjamin Franklin was an innovative guy who saw the potential endpoint. He said, “When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”

There are not a lot of people calling for the end of the republic, but when it comes to income tax rates, the current schedule is not that bad, comparatively.

Current income tax levies that have been in effect for more than 10 years are lower than previous rates, with the lowest bracket going from 15 percent to 10 percent. The top rate for those earning more than $373,650 is down from 39.6 percent to 35 percent. Estate and capital gains taxes have both been cut, as well.

For corporations, loopholes are big enough for Mack trucks.

Make no mistake, there’s plenty of room for improvement in today’s behemoth tax code. But if you look around the world, U.S. rates don’t seem so bad. The maximum potential income tax rate in Austria and Belgium is 50 percent. In Ireland, it’s 55 percent. Not to be outdone, the Swedes have a top rate of 56.6 percent.

Marginal tax rates in the U.S. were above 50 percent for top earners back in the ’80s.

So stop your grousing, bite the bullet and pay your taxes. And if you can’t figure out that Schedule E form, get yourself a capuchin and some slick software. Let the monkey do the work.

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The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and the editorial board.