What happened to the proposal of a flat tax?
By cj5guy
@cj5guy (93)
United States
May 22, 2009 7:11am CST
Several years ago, I read about a proposal for a flat tax and why is this not being considered. The tax laws are so complicated today with all the pages of legislation. A flat tax would be simple and very easy to file. Other countries have adopted this and have come out of recessions. When Russia collapsed, they instituted a 13% flat tax and pulled itself out of their recession. I pay almost no tax right now but I would be all for a 15% flat tax if it would help the economy. It eliminates tax write offs, tax breaks and such. Individuals making millions of dollars per year sometimes pay no taxes, how is this fair to the family struggling but they have nothing they can claim for a tax break. Before you accuse me of being a socialist, I am not talking about everyone making the same amount of money, only paying the same percentage of tax no matter how much they make. Why is the government not considering a flat tax and instead only adding thousands of pages to the tax laws.
1 person likes this
7 responses
@MrPKitty (102)
• United States
22 May 09
There's a very simple answer, the flat tax means EVERYBODY pays, nobody gets a write off. No loop holes, no breaks, you pay based on how much money you make in a given year.
So that top 10% of tax payers who have thousands, maybe millions, would have to pay their fair share, rather than write off every penny they can.
And they don't want to pay.
Money talks, people making minimum wage, pay.
2 people like this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
22 May 09
Those who work in our government are rich. If they passed a flat tax law, they'd wind up paying their fair share of taxes. That's probably the real reason they won't do it.
I believe a flat tax is the only way to be fair, and like you, I wouldn't mind paying a flat rate of even 15% if everyone else did, too. It would make a huge difference in how much revenue the government received.
2 people like this
@NefariousFox (161)
• United States
23 May 09
It's the kind of idea that is so asinine, that the only consequence of bringing it up is killing it instantly.
@coolcoder (2018)
• United States
22 May 09
You have to remember that this is the federal government we're talking about here. A common sense proposal such as a flat tax would go way over their heads, as it's...well...common sense. lol All of the clowns in the House and Senate have no inkling as to what that is, which is why everything's so mucked up over there in D.C. :)
1 person likes this
@joy1234 (33)
• India
23 May 09
Well, the topic you pick is an interesting one. 'Tax' is something where most of the people have a headache, ofcourse honest people who pay taxes. According to me government can think about flat taxes but depending upon the country,like ours INDIA it is difficult to implement. The most of the people in our country are poor. For them taxes are marginally low than higher bussiness/service holders. So in my opinion to make the use of 'flat' tax, we have to think twice.
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
23 May 09
There are many reasons, probably the most powerful is the employement reason, there are millions of accounts, tax return specialist, IRS workers, and lobbyist that would be unemployed by a flat tax. I think the flat tax is a great idea, but it will never happen here in the Untied States. There is way to much money involved in this, and the people that make the most will lose everything if the flat tax is law.
