[John Jamieson]

Most tax payers who say they want a 10 or 15% flat income tax, already pay way below that. The bottom 50% pay an average of 4.4%. Flat tax will only help the $100,000 grand and up crowd. Most of you would pay more! People who are claiming they pay 30% are wrong, or make alot of money and are not managing it well, or are counting SS, which would not change.

I'm retired on about the average US income, I paid less than 5%.

Everybody do your math, how many paying over 15% of gross income now?

[ANAGM]

John, My father and I both are self employed and we sock away 30% for taxes. Are we missing something? Give me your CPA's number if you only pay 5%

[Demosthenes]

Good, they NEED to pay more, or they need to work more, like I did. And FYI, John, I paid 22% of my 25k last year, and not only do I manage my money well, but I use a CPA too. To suggest that the rest of us are at fault is just crap. Perhaps you should look over your own math?

This year, I made almost 80k, and will pay about 10%, because now I know the game, and I know where the loopholes are. Do you think I feel guilty? Hell no, it's STILL too much.

Every bit of food you buy, every item of clothing, every gallon of gas, every phone call you make, every watt of electricity you use, every candy bar, every movie ticket, everything you do or buy is TAXED, JOHN, you can not spend a single f--ing dime anywhere in this country without the damned government STEALING some portion of it, and you can usually count on the state piggybacking a few nickels for itself along the way.

Everybody do your math, how many paying over 15% of gross income now?

I am, John, ME. Now, you wonder how that can be since I just told you I'm paying about 10% this year, right? Well, that's because my 10% raping is done by the Federal Govt, and when I claim to pay more than that, you better believe I do, because I spent a lot of money this year on food, gasoline, and everything else I need to survive. When it's all added up, it still lands just north of 25%. Don't take this to mean that I am being harsh with you, by the way, I just get hot when I think about the money I lose to the government every year.

[DennisR]

Wrong. This year I paid almost $9,000 in taxes. A flat tax would reduce that to about $6,500.