To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (4697 ) 9/22/1998 6:20:00 PM From: Les H Read Replies (3) | Respond to
Michelle: The tax system is full of tax breaks designed to garner support from those that benefit from it. It plays off one group against another so that it becomes next to impossible to get rid of it. I would be for tax system that uses a combination of low flat income tax, low sales tax, and excise taxes rather than the current system. Get rid of the deductions, especially the mortgage deduction and the charitable contributions deduction, and tax everyone on gross income, including corporations. It's too easy to manipulate net income and it will get rid of the double tax-free status of churches. It makes no sense that people can write off charitable contributions to entities that pay no real estate tax and income tax. If the income tax is low enough, well below 10%, I would also support getting rid of deduction for capital losses for individuals. Using both income and sales taxes will address some of the concern that many people in the cash economy severely underpay their income tax --- no system can completely account for this area.
