Flat Tax

What do you think of doing away with the loopholes and deductions and putting a flat tax of say 20% on everyone? I was shocked when I saw how many big companies that pay no tax as all, and this will soon change with Ireland changing their laws. This is not an unfair policy, nor would it favor certain people. Everyone pays the same rate. We all know there are ridiculous loopholes where millionaires get away with paying the same amount of money as those less fortunate.

The argument I usually hear against this is that expecting the wealthy to pay the same rate is unfair, as they are the ones who are creating jobs for others.

Do you think doing away with income tax and instead using a VAT tax to be better? Those spending more would pay more?

 

I am open to some form of flat tax to replace the current monstrosity that is the tax code, though I would need to see the "fine print" before endorsing it. A flat tax cut combined with massive spending cuts would be best, but I'm not holding my breath.

Concerning VAT, if it is the form that exists in some European and South American countries, no thanks.

 

I'm definitely in favor of a flat tax. I think the tax code should be neutral. There shouldn't be all these deductions and such. Whatever income you make, you should pay the same percentage of your income in taxes. Businesses shouldn't be able to wiggle their way out of taxes either. It's the only fair solution.

 

Flat Taxes aren't the solution because you taking the 20% chunk out of the person who makes $50k is not nearly the same hit as someone who makes $5mil a year. And what's this talk of the rich being able to avoid their taxes? Most of the rich is taxed through the roof and in a study this year, showed that the top 1% of income earners pay more in taxes than the bottom 90%.

A flat tax actually helps the rich pay LESS, not more.

 

That is because the top 1% have all the money. They should pay more. I mean how else do you think it would be fair? There is no way a guy making $50,000 will ever be able to pay the same amount as a guy making $5 million. So what is the solution?

The tax code needs to be simplified somehow, because as it is, the thousands of pages are not understood even by the IRS.

 

In theory, it sounds like a great idea. But I'm not sure how it would work out in reality for 2 reasons: we right now to have too big of a divide between the poor and very rich and the cost of living has gone up too much in comparison to salaries. 20% taken from a teacher who only makes $35,000 a year is a lot of money for her. She may not be able to live decently with the rising cost of living. However, if you take 20% from someone whose earning is in the billions, he/she will be able to survive very well.

 

Why shouldn't our tax code be neutral? Aren't we a society that places an emphasis on equality? Taxing one person more than the other based on their income isn't equality, it is favoritism. And it's wrong. Definitely need to pass a flat tax, or tax reform at the very least in the next few years.

 

^ Agreed with this. Everyone uses essential services and everyone should have some "skin in the game" when it comes to a proposed tax hike. The present system in which close to half the population pays nothing in Federal Income Tax is nonsense.

 

Flat tax poses a problem though, that being how it affects the poor. Already not too many people take advantage of tax rebates, and as a result there are poor people paying the same as the extremely rich as they do not know how to take advantage of this. Also changing a system like tax is a pretty big thing, I can imagine this taking at least a few years to get sorted out never mind passed.