Actually, it can be important to differentiate between flat taxes. One flat tax is an income tax on all income at a flat rate. The Hall-Rabushka flat tax is a consumption tax, with different properties. I've seen the two mixed on many threads, although from what I've read it seems that most people are talking about Hall-Rabushka when in support.
One flat tax is an income tax on all income at a flat rate. The Hall-Rabushka flat tax is a consumption tax, with different properties. I've seen the two mixed on many threads, although from what I've read it seems that most people are talking about Hall-Rabushka when in support.The Flat Tax is the Hall-Rabushka Flat Tax. Removing the graduated rates from the current system doesn't make it the Flat Tax or even a "flat tax." It's just an income tax with a single rate. This misunderstanding is propagated by FairTaxers when they claim that our current system started out as a flat tax (the implication is that if we go with the Flat Tax we'll just end up right back where we are). It may have had a single rate (in fact, it didn't), but that doesn't make it a flat tax as is commonly understood in today's tax reform world any more than someone saying a tax is a "fair tax" makes it the FairTax.