Lowering the corporate rates from over 40% to 10% would cut revenue overall. Additionally, corporations can move offshore.
Here’s the math on taxes:
2013 GDP: 16.8 Trillion Dollars
2013 Federal Government spending: 3.5 Trillion Dollars
2013 Gvt. spending as a percent of GDP: 20.83 percent
The absolute tax rate on every dollar of economic activity in the US would have to be 20.8% to balance the budget.
Perhaps the rate can be lowered a bit by double taxing dividends. Ten percent is a pipe dream.
I think the original poster is thinking gross revenues.
That is not income. We both know that.
You want a tax scheme that will encourage investment and capital investment at that.
If you are going to build roads you need big capital expenditures are the outset. You are not going to spend $10 million at Catapillar, AND pay 10% on your first dollar. It would freeze up capital spending. Factories would close (those that are left) and the whole thing falls apart.
People think that the income tax on their wages make up ALL of the tax base of the country. They are wrong.
The tax code needs to be cleaned up for the people on the ground, but the real money is made at the corporate tax level. Make it easier to bring money home from overseas and you will see boatloads of cash coming home.
I guess you could do a flat tax for the “people.” It would save some money, put the HR Blocks out of business, and the IRS could cut staff and there would be no such things as refunds.
But it would do almost NOTHING to the income of the government.