It's no worse than a progressive tax policy, IMHO. Of course, that depends on what end of the stick you're on. My point is why futz with all of this stuff, and not support a Flat Tax on income instead?
Because you take away choice.
My point is why futz with all of this stuff, and not support a Flat Tax on income instead?
The income tax was flat to begin with. And why should I or anyone want to report my family financial condition to government all the time, much less have to prove, it under threat of law, to their satisfaction when they disagree with my assessment?
"A hand from Washington will be stretched out and placed upon every man's business; the eye of the federal inspector will be in every man's counting house....The law will of necessity have inquisical features, it will provide penalties, it will create complicated machinery. Under it men will be hauled into courts distant from their homes. Heavy fines imposed by distant and unfamiliar tribunals will constantly menace the tax payer. An army of federal inspectors, spies, and detectives will descend upon the state."
-- Virginian House Speaker Richard E. Byrd, 1910, predicting the consequences of an income tax.
"a free people that pays slave taxes to its government is willingly training itself for bondage."
---Alan Keyes 1999