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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Katelew who wrote (130264)	2/5/2010 7:25:54 PM
From: Bridge Player	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542989

What kind of tax changes could you support, if any? Rather than give you a personal top-of-the-head response, I prefer to respond with two brief clips from a lengthy article originally prepared by the Heritage Foundation in 2005. It reflects considerably more depth and research into tax issues than I could persuasively muster in a short time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .............. .............. There have been several flat tax proposals over the years, all of them based on the pathbreaking proposal developed by two Hoover Institution economists.[5] While no two plans are identical, they all share common features that fix the major flaws of the current Internal Revenue Code. Simplicity and fairness are also natural consequences of these component features of tax reform. These major features of a flat tax are: A Single Flat Rate. All flat tax proposals have a single rate, usually less than 20 percent. The low, flat rate solves the problem of high marginal tax rates by reducing penalties against productive behavior, such as work, risk taking, and entrepreneurship. Elimination of Special Preferences. Flat tax proposals would eliminate provisions of the tax code that bestow preferential tax treatment on certain behaviors and activities. Getting rid of deductions, credits, exemptions, and other loopholes also helps solve the problem of complexity, allowing taxpayers to file their tax returns on a postcard-sized form. No Double Taxation of Saving and Investment. Flat tax proposals would eliminate the tax code’s bias against capital formation by ending the double taxation of income that is saved and invested. This means no death tax, no capital gains tax, no double taxation of saving, and no double tax on dividends. By taxing income only one time, a flat tax is easier to enforce and more conducive to job creation and capital formation. Territorial Taxation. Flat tax proposals are based on the commonsense notion of “territorial taxation,” meaning that governments should tax only income that is earned inside national borders. By getting rid of “worldwide taxation,” a flat tax enables U.S. taxpayers and companies to compete on a level playing field around the world. Family-Friendly. All flat tax proposals have one “loophole.” Households receive a generous exemption based on family size. For instance, a family of four would not begin to pay tax until its annual income reached more than $30,000.[6] Consumption-Based. A tax code that does not discriminate against saving and investment is considered a consumption-based tax system, regardless of whether taxes are deducted from the paycheck or collected at the cash register. In this respect, a flat tax is a type of consumption tax. The difference between a flat tax and a national sales tax is where the tax is collected. A flat tax is levied on income—but only once and at one low rate—as it is earned. A sales tax is levied on income—but only once and at one low rate—as it is spent. Both the flat tax and the sales tax differ dramatically from the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The current tax code has numerous forms of double taxation, such as its treatment of saving and corporate income. The current tax code also has several forms of wealth taxation or asset taxation, such as the capital gains tax and the death tax. (These also are forms of double taxation since the assets were acquired with after-tax dollars.) The current tax code even has provisions that force taxpayers to overstate their income, such as forcing businesses to “depreciate” the cost of new investment instead of allowing immediate and full deduction (a policy known as “expensing”) when costs are incurred. ............ ............ ............ The Advantages of a Flat Tax There are two principal arguments for a flat tax—growth and fairness. Many economists are attracted to the idea because the current tax system, with its high rates and discriminatory taxation of saving and investment, reduces growth, destroys jobs, and lowers incomes. A flat tax would not eliminate the damaging impact of taxes altogether, but by dramatically lowering rates and ending the tax code’s bias against saving and investment, it would boost the economy’s performance when compared with the present tax code. However, the most persuasive feature of a flat tax for many Americans is its fairness. The complicated documents, instruction manuals, and numerous forms that taxpayers struggle to decipher every April would be replaced by a brief set of instructions and two simple postcards. This radical reform appeals to citizens who not only resent the time and expense consumed by filing their own tax forms, but also suspect that the existing maze of credits, deductions, and exemptions gives a special advantage to those who wield political power and can afford expert tax advisers. ................. ................. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ heritage.org