[meyer]

This is why I prefer a simple, low flat income tax. Low rate, no exceptions, no deductions, no credits. Everybody pays the same rate.

[Man50D]

This is why I prefer a simple, low flat income tax. Low rate, no exceptions, no deductions, no credits. Everybody pays the same rate.

The Fair Tax is a flat income tax on consumption instead of income. A flat tax on income has been tried and proven to be an abysmal failure. It's called the income tax. When it was enacted in 1913 the first $20,000 was taxed at 1% and 7% over $500,000. So few people made more than $500,000 that it was essentially a flat tax. The income tax in 1913 effected less than 5% of the population. Today more than 80% are effected. Enacting another flat income tax will eventually bring us back to the same oppressive, overly complex monstrosity of an income tax code we have today. The only difference is it will reoccur much faster thanks to 40,000 lobbyists.

[PubliusMM]

But, that wouldn’t be fair to the 45 million or so folks with incomes at the level that requires no tax to paid... And, the rich folks would no longer pay over 60% of the income taxes in the US (Investors Business Daily data).

A tax on consumption puts greater control in the hands of the taxpayer, and that scares the hell outta the politicos. They don’t want us folks out here among the great unwashed masses to have any control...

[MarkL]

This is why I prefer a simple, low flat income tax. Low rate, no exceptions, no deductions, no credits. Everybody pays the same rate.

Actually, I prefer a REGRESSIVE flat tax, where the highest percentage is payed by those at the bottom, as incentive to earn more. The more you earn, the greater the percentage of your income you get to keep. I can't take credit for that one though...

Mark

[dan1123]

Any income tax is socialistic by nature. A consumption tax is slightly less because it doesn’t tax at the source of production. I would prefer, however, a flat fee that everyone pays once a year for government services. No percentages, no tracking of anything, just send your check once a year/month and it’s done with.

[phil_will1]

“This is why I prefer a simple, low flat income tax. Low rate, no exceptions, no deductions, no credits. Everybody pays the same rate.”

Do you support the Burgess flat tax bill in the house or another flat tax proposal?

[Turret Gunner A20]

This is why I prefer a simple, low flat income tax. Low rate, no exceptions, no deductions, no credits. Everybody pays the same rate.

The following is from The Heritage Foundation site YOU referred me to: Consumption-Based. A tax code that does not discriminate against saving and investment is con­sidered a consumption-based tax system, regard­less of whether taxes are deducted from the paycheck or collected at the cash register. In this respect, a flat tax is a type of consumption tax. The difference between a flat tax and a national sales tax is where the tax is collected. A flat tax is levied on income—but only once and at one low rate—as it is earned. A sales tax is levied on income—but only once and at one low rate—as it is spent.

Both the flat tax and the sales tax differ dramati­cally from the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The current tax code has numerous forms of double taxation, such as its treatment of saving and corpo­rate income. The current tax code also has several forms of wealth taxation or asset taxation, such as the capital gains tax and the death tax. (These also are forms of double taxation since the assets were acquired with after-tax dollars.)The current tax code even has provisions that force taxpayers to overstate their income, such as forcing businesses to “depreciate” the cost of new investment instead of allowing immediate and full deduction (a policy known as “expensing”) when costs are incurred.

None of these forms of double taxation, wealth taxation, or overtaxation exist in either a flat tax or a national sales tax, which is why public finance economists categorize both systems as consump­tion-based taxes.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/bg1866.cfm

[Turret Gunner A20]

This is why I prefer a simple, low flat income tax. Low rate, no exceptions, no deductions, no credits. Everybody pays the same rate.

The following is from The Heritage Foundation site YOU referred me to:

Consumption-Based. A tax code that does not discriminate against saving and investment is con­sidered a consumption-based tax system, regard­less of whether taxes are deducted from the paycheck or collected at the cash register. In this respect, a flat tax is a type of consumption tax. The difference between a flat tax and a national sales tax is where the tax is collected. A flat tax is levied on income—but only once and at one low rate—as it is earned. A sales tax is levied on income—but only once and at one low rate—as it is spent.

Both the flat tax and the sales tax differ dramati­cally from the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The current tax code has numerous forms of double taxation, such as its treatment of saving and corpo­rate income. The current tax code also has several forms of wealth taxation or asset taxation, such as the capital gains tax and the death tax. (These also are forms of double taxation since the assets were acquired with after-tax dollars.)The current tax code even has provisions that force taxpayers to overstate their income, such as forcing businesses to “depreciate” the cost of new investment instead of allowing immediate and full deduction (a policy known as “expensing”) when costs are incurred.

None of these forms of double taxation, wealth taxation, or overtaxation exist in either a flat tax or a national sales tax, which is why public finance economists categorize both systems as consump­tion-based taxes.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/bg1866.cfm

Make up your mind.