I keep hearing about people not paying......?

IndianaJohn

I would support a flat tax

LMC too

G6er

In THEORY, yes that way works great.. but the problem comes from balancing "fair" and "need"

The government (there shouldn't be any doubt here) spends a TON of money and could probably cut back spendings..
BUT
the fact is, it takes a TON of money to pay for roads, sewers, police, fire, ambulance, public buildings, parks, government assitance, social services... there are tons and tons of things that not everyone uses, but are very important. and they need money. If you did the flat rate you run into 2 problems. the first is.. what is fair...
15% for a person with a HUGE income, might not be so bad... but 15% for someone that is already on the threshold of poverty might push them over the edge...
So where is fair.. 15%... 10%? and if you accomodate to the lowest or weakest chain.. then you have to look at the fact you wont be pulling in as much money.. So now all your services are underfunded... OR you have to start taxing up the wazoo for other things. Sales tax would have to double.. property tax tripple (just tossing out numbers... no merit to them).. but you get the idea.. GAS taxes would probably have to increase because the government would have to get all road works money through gas tax...

Hope you get the picture.. it's not a perfect system, but i have yet to see anything that will work a lot better.

tehabwa

No, it wouldn't be fair at all.

The people who barely survive would be devestated; the people who keep the profit from everyone else's labor wouldn't even notice.

BTW, it would have to be much higher -- the rate you cite is what the extremely rich currently pay, while people who do all the work pay 30% or more.

The progressive tax was the best (we USED to have one). Yes, the rich constantly screamed and whined, and threw hissy fits that it was killing them, but they still were rich.

The people who keep saying that when rich people don't pay taxes, they create jobs are either lying or deluded. That is NOT what happens.

When we had a progressive tax, people started businesses, existing businesses grew, some people became rich -- all the things that the right says can't possibly happen, including lots of job-creation.

No one is saying ONLY the richest should pay any tax ("not just put the burden on the wealthy"); the people at the bottom should pay nothing; the people in the middle should pay reasonable rates; those who profit from everyone else's labor should pay the most.

OK, you aren't wealthy -- but you think you will be some day, right?

Mutt

What I feel would be fair is doing away with the income tax completely and going with a federal sales tax. Tax all non-essential items, and exclude items such as food (tax junk food, though), water, and clothing.

It's fair and treats everyone the same. If you are poor but decide to buy junk food instead of apples, you pay a tax. If you want to buy a DVD instead of a new pair of pants, you get taxed. And if you're rich, you don't pay taxes on food and clothing, but you will on all other items.

jjt

obviously you know nothing about the law or how its written, heres a hint. an american is different from a u.s. citizen

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