I would go for a flat tax if there was a ceiling on the maximum FIT skimmed from each person. High income earners get no more benefit from the federal government than low income earners...often much less as the low end is often feeding on the entitlements. Most of the "deductions" have been eliminated or "phased out". It's so bad now that my W2 filed as Single/0 dependents barely covers the tax confiscated. I do the whole 1040 exercise with all the itemized deductions only to find that most of them are "phased out" by the socialist garbage that inhabits the hallowed halls of Congress. I need to do a "Laffer curve" analysis to figure out what gross income vs tax rate returns the most net income for the effort. I'm clearly working too hard and feeding more to the government than I should be.
For comparison, my son's $10,300 gross was subjected to $110 in FIT. Fifteen such persons would gross $154,500 and pay a total of $1650 in FIT. If a single person earns that $154,500, the FIT is around $33,000. That is a gross injustice. It's just going to get worse when the socialists sweep into office in November.
Sadly true. I grew up in a socialist country and know from
first hand observation how bad socialism is for creating prosperity.
To expound on your example, a single person earning $10,000 would pay
10,000-2500 personal exemption x 10% = $750.
A family earning $150,000 would pay
150,000-4*2500 x 10% = $14,000.
So 15 people earning $10,000 pay 750 x 15 = $11250
So to me it seems fair.
Obviously a 10% flat tax can not cover all the entitlements.
So the social security system should be optional as a private investment option for the younger generation.