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Does anyone remember Steve Forbes from the 2000 primaries? I think he had a great idea about flat tax rates.
Wouldn’t it be more fair if the government took a flat 20% (or whatever rate it is) from all the people instead of all these weird tax brackets. I know it would make filling out tax forms easier.
Also, no one could complain that the rich aren’t taxed enough, etc. because we’d all be paying the same amount proportionately.
Proportionately we would not. Sure, we would each pay 20%, but not all 20%s are created equal.
The problem with Forbes’ flat tax rate is the proportion of income that goes to supporting oneself among the different tax brackets. As income increases, one can easily pay not only a greater net amount but also a higher percentage. One family might need 80% of income to pay the bills while a higher income family might only need 50% to cover expenses. Staggered tax brackets allow you to dip equally by proportion into each bracket’s “surplus” income (in theory; we have too many loop holes). A flat tax usually ends up taxing the poor too much and the rich too little; if we want to ease the burden on the poor, we lose significant tax income from the rich.
A [b:1y9jhsni]consumption[/b:1y9jhsni] tax….
exempt food, clothing and utilities.you buy more, you pay more
[quote:3q3f7v8i]A [b:3q3f7v8i]consumption[/b:3q3f7v8i] tax….
exempt food, clothing and utilities.you buy more, you pay more[/quote:3q3f7v8i]
Is this in addition to sales tax?
In Minnesota you do not pay tax on food or clothing. When I lived in Anchorage there was no sales tax and that was really nice.
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