Should we go to a flat tax?

Question

no right offs just a flat tax.

Answer 1

Not a flat tax. Oddly enough, a flat tax really penalizes the poor. As it stands now, those below a certain income level end up paying no tax. With a flat tax, (say 10%) they would end up with less take home than they do now.

A national sales tax on everything but basic necessities (food, electricity) would end up with a fair distribution across economic levels. The working poor would not get taxed on living expenses. The middle class would get taxed for that four wheeler and the plasma tv and the rich would get taxed on the yaht and the Bentley.

Answer 2

A flat tax is a LOUSY idea. The rate would need to be around 25% - 27% to equal the revenue from the current graduated income tax. Only the wealthy pay net taxes that high. If you give the wealthy a tax break like that, the burden must be transferred elsewhere. That would leave it up to the middle class or the poor.

If you think that a flat tax would be a great idea, figure out what it would do to you. Take your gross income from your tax return and add back any tax preference items such as retirement account contributions and pre-tax medical insurance. Now apply the 25% rate to that and compare that amount to the Total Tax line on your return. If you save money that way, congratulations, you are very wealthy. If you're like most of us, you will see a MAJOR tax increase.

Sales taxes are the worst of all possible taxes. They disproportionately affect the poor who must pay much more of their total income for essential goods and services. The wealthy don't spend anywhere near the proportion of their total income that the poor do. Sales taxes violate the first rule of taxation: Make sure that the taxpayer can afford to pay the tax! Sales taxes should be permanently banned.

The tax code does need to be simplified, but neither a flat income tax nor any more sales taxes are the answer. Period!

Answer 3

A flat tax is a simple method to collect money for the government. Simple to explain but difficult to accomplish because everybody has a lobby which wants their tax write-off.

Answer 4

Actually I would rather have a national sales tax on all goods, services and property with no exemptions.

This way everyone would pay the same weather you are a citizen or not because everybody buys stuff everyday.

Answer 5

A flat tax would be great if you were rich.

It would be terrible if you were poor or middle class.

Answer 6

This would be the best way to tax
but it would never vpass