With all of the services that are essential to our nation, is there an effective tax structure that can work?

Answer 1

The current graduated income tax works quite nicely. It's based upon the taxpayers ability to pay and therefore is the fairest possible tax.

A flat rate tax would disproportionally hit the poor and middle class. Only the wealthy would benefit. A flat tax would have to be levied at 25% - 27% to equal the revenue from the current graduated tax system. Only the wealthiest taxpayers pay anything anywhere near that for a net rate. Most taxpayers pay between 0% and 20% net of gross income in Federal Income Tax and would therefore pay MUCH higher taxes with a flat rate tax.

Answer 2

DoH is a cynic, but he's flat wrong that the rich don't pay taxes - they actually pay most of them. A flat tax would hurt the poor a lot, and hurt the middle class, but be really nice for upper middle class and up. And it wouldn't do anything to tax the underground economy, the money being earned "under the table."

A progressive tax is probably the most fair, the most reasonable, and actually the most doable since those who have more money pay more. Our current code could stand to be simplified some, though.

Answer 3

Yea, a flat tax.

Today you pay a % of your income up front, then apply deductions to get money back.

In the end the people who pay the lowest % in of their total income are the ones who make enough to afford an tax attorney. The rest of us poor schleps are carrying the load.

You could lower the % being taxed across the board if just got everyone to actually pay the flat rate and reduce the overhead of the IRS.

Answer 4

The curent tax system, a progressive tax, would work fine, if we got rid of all the loopholes, special interests deductions, exemptions, credits, etc. And as long as everyone was honest with their taxes. It's not the system itself that doesn't work, it's how the pieces don't work in it.