A flat tax doesn’t necessarily mean taxes go up. It’s all in how its structured and what other hidden taxes go away to make it balance out.
It’s obvious to me, for example, that a poverty level income wouldn’t pay any income tax, flat or not. I disagree with that and personally think everyone should have skin in the game, but I’m not an elected official.
FWIW, my personal favorite is a sales tax, but I don’t think we’ll go straight from an income tax to a sales tax.
You assume the hidden taxes go away, but I'll agree that the flat tax at least has the potential to keep an individual's taxes from going up.
It’s obvious to me, for example, that a poverty level income wouldn’t pay any income tax, flat or not. I disagree with that and personally think everyone should have skin in the game, but I’m not an elected official.
The last statistic I saw was that a family of four with an income of close to $50,000 paid no income taxes due to deductions and tax credits. So it's not poor people whose ox is going to get gored, it's the average family. How do you explain to them why they should want to see their taxes go up?
FWIW, my personal favorite is a sales tax, but I don’t think we’ll go straight from an income tax to a sales tax.
Then that's a guaranteed tax increase for a huge percentage of the population. How do you sell it?