[blueplum]

Currently employers pay ~7.5% in FIca and SS taxes

You raise a good point. In addition to the impact of VAT affecting retired seniors, I'm interested in learning what Cruz' plan is to fund the employer's-share of payroll taxes.

[Lagmeister]

There isn’t any. It’s the backdoor way to bleed Social Security.

[Leto]

Currently employers pay ~7.5% in FIca and SS taxes
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You raise a good point. In addition to the impact of VAT affecting retired seniors, I’m interested in learning what Cruz’ plan is to fund the employer’s-share of payroll taxes.
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Cruz is using the 10% individual flat tax and the 16% business tax to replace all the federal and FiCA taxes. That is the point. I personally prefer the pure flat tax, but this plan is far stronger than most.

Detail here

https://www.tedcruz.org/tax_plan/

[JohnBovenmyer]

My understanding is that Cruz's 16% 'Business' tax replaces both the individual and the employer sides of the FICA taxes, i.e. 16% in place of current 15.3% on current wages up to current SS limit, at most $82 more at the SS limit of $117k for 2014. Now for wages over the SS limit your taxes on wages do go up a lot potentially, but then your personal tax rate is still only 10% over that. And for business net income over expenses other than wages the 16% rate is lower than the current corporate (or Chapter S) rates. And the economy saves a LOT in compliance costs.

To get the total tax take down you'll need to shrink government (Ted's start is listed upthread), privatize SS and Medicare with politically palatable phase ins (essential but difficult), then go after the gibmedat entitlement boondoggles. Then shrink the debt/GDP ratio by growing the latter and starting to pay down the former. Selling off excessive federal land gradually would help. It's going to take more than a term or two, even with the best candidates imaginable, to get that all done. I doubt I'll ever see the Feds take the pre-progressive era 3% of GDP. We'll probably need at least that for defense for the foreseeable future. If some states want to tax themselves to maintain their current level of goodies let them try that... in competition with lower tax, less goodies, states.