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What makes you think that different tax rates for different incomes is at all "fair"?
A famous bank robber was caught and put in jail. Later a someone asked him why he kept robbing banks.
He replied, "Because that's where the money is."
Politicians who charge higher tax rates on people with bigger incomes, operate on the same principle as that bank robber. And for the same reason.
The only fair tax, is one where each person pays in proportion to the amount of benefit he gets from the government.
If you have taxes where one guy pays a lot more than what he gets from the govt, while another guy pays a lot less than what he gets from the govt, you will NEVER get any agreement on whether it's "fair".
The original Federal tax scheme established in this country when the Constitution was first adopted, did exactly that, in part. Personal taxes were paid by the states to the Fed govt, in proportion to the population of each state. If a state had twice as many people as its neighboring state, it paid twice as much in person tax money. This was called a "head tax" or "capitation tax".
Of course, most taxes back then were on goods (excise taxes), import/exports (duties), etc. But personal Federal taxes were forbidden, except in proportion to the state's population.
During the Civil War, the Fed govt tried to impose an Income Tax on the wealthy. It worked its way through the courts and was found to be unconstitutional. Though the money was never returned to the taxpayer.
Their flat tax amount would be much higher than the poorest, too. That's what makes the flat tax fair.
The flat tax being fair is a dishonest tag line to try to garner support.
If your spouse earns 150,000 and your income is 50,000 and you have to pay half the bills; is that fair?
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Originally Posted by InformedConsent
Actually, it would. The average effective federal income tax rate is 13.3%. Hit everyone, no exceptions, up with a 15% flat tax on incomes of $1 and up, and tax revenue would exceed what's currently collected.
There’s no evidence the flat tax works anywhere in the world.
All it does is cause increased wealth concentration, shifts more of the burden to the lower and middle classes, and it would slow economic growth (the current tax system encourages and rewards spending for business growth).
All you have to say is “the flat tax is fair.” Which even that is a lie.
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Originally Posted by Roboteer
The only fair tax, is one where each person pays in proportion to the amount of benefit he gets from the government.
If you have taxes where one guy pays a lot more than what he gets from the govt, while another guy pays a lot less than what he gets from the govt, you will NEVER get any agreement on whether it's "fair".
And the wealthy benefit far more from our country than the poor; so only makes sense they pay more.
Amen Brother! Let's make sure that all those poor folks pay "their fair share". The rich folks are tired of paying all the taxes, and deserve a break.
The poor would pay significantly less than the rich as they have less money to spend. It's all relative. The VAT is a self-leveling tax as one's tax burden is limited by how much one can spend. European countries have no problem with it for exactly that reason.
The poor would pay significantly less than the rich as they have less money to spend. It's all relative. The VAT is a self-leveling tax as one's tax burden is limited by how much one can spend. European countries have no problem with it for exactly that reason.
The VAT tax is a regressive tax affecting lower incomes more.
Or maybe we should cut government spending?
Isn't that the main problem, the fact that our government has put America into trillions of dollars of debt by wasting our tax dollars.
Raising taxes for a government that continually wastes trillions of dollars is not a solution for anything.
The flat tax being fair is a dishonest tag line to try to garner support.
If your spouse earns 150,000 and your income is 50,000 and you have to pay half the bills; is that fair?
It depends on the relationship, but yes, many couples do split expenses equally regardless of what each one's income is.
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There’s no evidence the flat tax works anywhere in the world.
That's why a VAT would be better. Everyone pays, including those whose income isn't reported because it's earned via illicit means.
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All it does is cause increased wealth concentration, shifts more of the burden to the lower and middle classes, and it would slow economic growth (the current tax system encourages and rewards spending for business growth).
We already know that's incorrect. Read more about it, here:
The flat tax being fair is a dishonest tag line to try to garner support.
If your spouse earns 150,000 and your income is 50,000 and you have to pay half the bills; is that fair?
If the flat tax rate was 15%, ^ couple would pay $30,000 in combined taxes.
Conversely, they could file separately, and pay $7500 and $22,500, respectively.
And the wealthy benefit far more from our country than the poor;
How much more do the wealthy benefit from govt, than the middle or poor? 5%? 10%? 20%?
Half the population in the U.S. pay no Federal Income Tax whatsoever. While other people pay $hundreds of thousands, or even millions. This country's income tax structure is grotesquely unfair, by any measure.
Except the "measure" that says the rich are inherently eeevil and deserve to have everything taken from them. Without benefit of trial, of course, for the "crimes" they supposedly committed.
US Personal income in 2020 was $~19.68 Trillion.
US personal income tax revenue in 2020 was $~1.9 trillion.
Total personal income in 2020: $19.68 Trillion.
Total personal consumption expenditure in 2020: $14.05 Trillion.
US personal income tax revenue in 2020: $~1.9 Trillion.
Flat income tax at 5% ($~980B) and a flat national VAT at 7% ($~983B). No deductions, exemptions, credits of any kind. All tax 'returns' are filed electronically and VAT collected at point of sale. That replaces the current personal income tax revenue. Do the same with the corporate income tax.
And the Federal Government should be forced to cut spending by 2% per year across the board until the budget is balanced.
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