[Maximum Leader]

I agree, I don't like the idea of mailing out "refundable" tax credits to people who don't pay taxes. The problem is the Feds have two income tax regimes... the income tax and the FICA taxes (it's not an "insurance premium" if the government forces you to pay it).

Since FICA taxes over and above what it takes to pay social security and medicare just go into the general revenue pool, it would make things less complicated if the two systems were combined (incidentally the flat tax keeps the two systems, while a national retail sales tax would eliminate both).

We could eliminate refundable tax credits (and tax credit fraud) by giving a FICA tax deduction for the first, say, $10,000 of income (not sure what the precise threshold would be to be revenue neutral) and then eliminate these tax credits.

[NEWwoman]

I agree, I don't like the idea of mailing out "refundable" tax credits to people who don't pay taxes.

Right. Just another way to redistribute the wealth.