[oldbill]

Only solution is a flat tax on all income.
ALL income - wages, dividends, winnings, inheritances, interest, stock options - whatever you took in from January 1st to December 31st.

The rich can hide most of their income under current rules, which they and their politician servants write.

The perfect tax code would have a fixed rate for all income after allowing a base exclusion for essential living costs, say the first $10,000.

Gone are all the 1099, W2, etc. forms.
The 1040 would be 3 lines: Total income, minus $10,000, your tax.

[JennysCool]

While a flat tax certainly is more efficient than the current system, a national sales tax actually encourages the government to promote economic growth. When the economy is roaring, the government collects a healthy share of the proceeds; when the economy is in the doldrums, the government has to do with less, which might make it more apt to pursue sensible and successful economic policies.

It's also more equitable for the consumer. Someone with the wherewithall to dine on lobster three times a week is going to be paying a heftier tax bill than members of the Top Ramen set will be paying. It has that "fairness" thing the politicians are always yammering about built right in.

[null and void]

Gone are all the 1099, W2, etc. forms.
The 1040 would be 3 lines: Total income, minus $10,000, your tax.

I think you meant to add "times 0.02" (or whatever the flat rate turns out to be).

[Valpal1]

Never tax inheritance! That’s the fastest way to destroy small farms and businesses when the kids have to sell out to pay the taxes.

[freeandfreezing]

Only solution is a flat tax on all income. ALL income - wages, dividends, winnings, inheritances, interest, stock options - whatever you took in from January 1st to December 31st.

I guess you have never been self employed or run a business. Income is not the amount of money that you "took in" it is the amount of money left after you subtract what went out from what came in. Just imagine this case. You cash a $1,000 check for somebody and give them 10 $100 bills. How much income did you make? Zero.

The reason that income taxes require voluminous returns is that determining income isn't simple. Accounting for expenses is complicated, and the government always wants to adjust the system so that they benefit from the ordinary economic decisions people make.

The best solution is less taxes. The smaller the government is, and the less of life it is involved with the smaller the amounts of money it needs to operate. The next best improvement is excluding as many kinds of activity as possible from taxation.

Your scheme would require you to maintain records of every time you sell anything. So if you sold your neighbor your old lawnmower for $50.00 you need to record that and pay the appropriate tax on it. And since you want to tax inheritances, you want to tax people twice on the same money. That means you need to track gifts between family members, because money given before you die would not be taxed but your family's inheritance would be. Which is why there is a gift tax in the USA.

The complexity in taxation comes from determining income, not calculating the tax.