IT IS POSSIBLE, however, that an association of taxpayers could challenge the income tax law. They could charge we are being DENIED EQUAL REPRESENTATION. After all, 10% of our taxpayers are paying 90% of our taxes, but they're NOT getting matching representation.
To add insult to injury, they are even limited to a FLAT DOLLAR AMOUNT they can donate to their representatives!!!
Taxpayers are assessed higher and higher PERCENTAGES of taxes, but denied EQUAL PERCENTAGE DONATIONS to their representatives!
By fairness alone, people who are forced to pay higher percentages in taxes should be allowed to donate higher percentages to their representatives!
If that is refused by the courts then the NEXT MOST FAIR REMEDY would be for those who pay 3 TIMES higher percentages in tax, get 3 VOTES at election time!
Another great challenge to the income-tax should be the assertion that the constitutional amendment was mis-handled and never legally ratified in the required number of states!
Would some adventurous legal group please come forward on , lets say a contingency basis, in support of a taxpayer's union?
Nonetheless, since 1991, the U.S. tax code has regressed; three new higher rates were added, with the top rate increased from 28.0 to 39.6 percent.
And, therein lies the giant trap that makes the flat income tax unworkable.
Remember that when the income tax was created it was essentially a flat income tax. The concept of a flat income tax sounds intriguing, at first glance. But, unless it is specifically required by an amendment to the Constitution to remain flat, it will soon become progressive again. And even if supported by an amendment, the flat income tax is still not a workable solution here in the United States.
In fact, the flat income tax is nothing more than a ruse, to keep an income tax in place and along with it, a club to hold over the heads of citizens, in the form of the IRS.
The flat income tax will still require an IRS or another agency of a different name, but same function, to monitor compliance and generally keep the people in fear of their government. These flat income tax pushers would have us buy their snake oil and think that the only problem is the level and inequality of taxation. Granted that those are significant issues, but to act like they are the only issues is specious, at best and a sham at worst.
Ask any person that you know, what government agency they fear most, if any. You will find that every person (except maybe the occasional gun collector) will answer without hesitation, "The IRS." Any attempt at reforming our tax system, that leaves the IRS (or similar functioning agency by another name) intact, will not stop the massive level of capital flight that has been building up over the last decade. Any such attempt would therefore be nothing more than a temporary placebo, to take the public's mind off of taxes for a few years, while they continue to beat the public into submission with the IRS bludgeon.
By now, everyone has heard about Stanley Tools, Cooper Industries and other major companies that are reincorporating offshore, as a result of our oppressive tax system. There are at least 8 or 10 such articles on FR right now. They are moving their legal home offshore, not only to save on taxes, but to lower their risk of IRS interference or even confiscation of assets. But, those are just companies.
Action America has been reporting on individual expatriation for years and the one fact that stands out is that the principle driving factor behind this expatriation and capital flight is the IRS. The wealthy don't just pick up and leave their established life for a few percentage points in taxes. If you have to pay 20 million in taxes or 30 million, what difference does it make, if your gross is 100 million? The problem is NOT the level of taxation, as the flat income tax schemers would have us believe. The problem is that they are afraid of the IRS. After all, the United States is the ONLY country in the whole world, where an unelected bureaucrat can sign a piece of paper and you can lose every asset that you have, regardless of where in the world it is. See "Tick-Tick-Tick - The Economy Bomb" for more on IRS induced wealth flight and the serious threat it represents.
If a flat income tax were to be put in place in the United States, there is one thing that you can count on. It would require the IRS to become even more tyrannical in their auditing efforts, than they are now, since the rich would be paying tax at the same lower percentage as the poorest taxpayer, meaning a lower potential for collection from each individual taxpayer that they audit. In order to collect the same amount of money under a flat income tax as they do now, they will have to become even more aggressive in their collection efforts.
So, although the flat income tax would solve part of the problem with our tax code, it has two major drawbacks. It would not only fail to eliminate the IRS, but it would actually give the IRS reason to become even more oppressive than they are today. NOT a heartwarming thought. Don't buy into the flat income tax propaganda. It is still a tax on income.. It would still have all the imbedded (hidden) tax and compliance costs in every product, at every level. And worst of all, it would still require the IRS to enforce it. Of course, that is the whole purpose of proposing a flat income tax.
Do NOT buy into their propaganda. It's a scam. A flat income tax is nothing but a ruse that gives the illusion of tax reform, but in reality, allows the government to keep the IRS intact, as a bludgeon to hold over the heads of any citizen who dares not bend over for them on command.
The ONLY proposal that is currently on the table, that can solve ALL of the major problems with our tax system, is the National Retail Sales Tax (NRST). In fact, as major studies have shown, the NRST would likely bring back a lot of previously expatriated wealth as well as foreign capital, which would allow for a lowering of taxes. It's a win all the way around.