GOP presidential candidates Herman Cain, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have all introduced proposals for flat taxes, which aim to tax everyone at the same rate. The idea is to simplify the tax code, getting rid of loopholes and reducing entitlements and deductions. Gingrich and Perry have both promised that Americans would be able to file their taxes on a postcard.
Flat income taxes have been criticized for putting a greater burden on middle-income people while cutting taxes for the rich. Critics say a flat tax would bring in less revenue for the government to fund social programs (though, as Rachel Weiner of The Washington Post puts it, “of course, for many conservatives, a drastically smaller government is a feature, not a bug").
Flat income taxes have been criticized for putting a greater burden on middle-income people while cutting taxes for the rich. Critics say a flat tax would bring in less revenue for the government to fund social programs (though, as Rachel Weiner of The Washington Post puts it, “of course, for many conservatives, a drastically smaller government is a feature, not a bug").
The United States briefly tried a flat 3 percent income tax between 1861 and 1872; a flat income tax was reintroduced in 1894 but was struck down by the Supreme Court. Instead, the U.S. has had a graduated income tax since World War I. We haven’t really gotten to see how a flat tax would play out here, and it’s a good time to take a look at other countries that have adopted flat taxes, and how it worked out for them.
3 comments:
Have they worked? Depends.
I'm on my 2nd Russian daughter-in-law and I can't explain to them why OUR tax system is better than theirs (FLAT).
So now we LIKE the ideas of Communists? I am confused.
Again, don't mention Ron Paul!
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