The reform of ‘86 was both a miracle and revolutionary compared to the preceding decades. Goes to show you how evil our tax system is that it hardly ended up mattering. Not to say things couldn’t have been worse without it, but does anyone anywhere think the current system is good? I mean, at all?
The problem with the 86 law was that it didn’t eliminate deductions and credits, except for the investment tax credit, it limited them, which meant that you had to calculate the benefit, and then calculate the limit. Thus, the flat tax was more complicated than the graduated tax. The graduated tax rates are the least complicated part of tax law.