The great Flat Tax debate
Posted By RichC on May 26, 2005
I’ve been a proponent of the Steve Forbes style “flat tax” since it was introduced durning his run for the presidency. Although I’m not comfortable with an over the board Flat Tax, I would like to see serious reform.
On a CNBC ‘unscientific’ poll of people watching Squawkbox or reading their website, other were of a similar mindset by a 2 to 1 margin.
Let’s start with the convoluted tax code of over 17,000 pages packed with special interest political kickbacks. Yes that is how many of the current credits and complications in the current tax code work. The average American has to sort through, or pay to have a professional sort through this maze of confusion just to file your taxes. Most of us give up on trying to keep up with long term changes and as a recognized financial host comments, “People just want a tax that is fair and simple.”
Simplicity and discouraging ‘cheats’ would be toward the top of my list of tax reform criteria. Fairness to all goes hand in hand as the simplicity discourages people from not paying their correct tax. The job of the IRS is made far easier as not having to check mega sized returns (many pages) they will be able to better assure us that each citizen is paying their fair share.
Many will argue that the poor will end up paying too much and they are the ones that can little afford paying additional taxes. There will still be room for a bottom limit (perhaps even higher than today) and larger exemptions for dependents. What’s wrong with that?
Next ‘tax related’ blog post will be on a self-named Petroleum Aquisition Adjustment. (PAA) This is a proposal being discussed occasionally on a forum I participate in. Check it out.
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