It's election silly season, and I would like to know what people on the site from all spots on the political spectrum think would be an ideal federal tax system. If you had a magic wand and could transform the US tax code into an ideal system, what would it be? What percentage of income would someone making $1 million/year, or $100,000/year, or $25,000/year pay? What would corporations pay? Would gains on capital investment be treated differently than income? What deductions or exemptions would be eliminated or created? How would you ask our citizenry to pay for the US government?
flat tax for any income over $30k. capital gains same as flat tax. flat tax for corporations too. eliminate 1031 exchanges for non primary residential properties. no deductions.
The good thing about deductions is you can promote things with them, such as donations. Does any country in the world have a flat tax?
i don't like the Clintons of the world being able to donate to their own charities. the rich overall tax rates won't be so much higher that they can't or won't donate. yes. strangely it's mostly eastern European countries. though many countries are close to a flat tax like hong kong.
Other than eliminating some tax planning opportunities, I don't think a flat tax does anything to simplify the process (if that's your goal). The annoying part is computing your AGI/TI.
It takes me 5 minutes to punch in my wife's and my W2. The next 3 hours is me gathering all the paperwork and punching in the numbers to determine deductions.
if done properly it could be a one sheet tax return. that's the point. basically anything except retirement contributions and non taxable events would be in your AGI.
Sorry, would still like to hear. Currently, US tax brackets are between 10% and 39.6% before Obamacare for single payer.. The vast majority pay between 25-35%--that's between about $40k and $400k for individuals. Where would you flat taxers put the rate? Where would you left leaners put the brackets? And what about corporations?
This would seem to discourage contributions and limit the ability for those orgs to do what they do. Some of that is good stuff. Is is ok to abandon these functions, or do you have another idea to replace the non-profits?
Effective tax rate is much lower than you think. Eliminate deductions and I see little reason why it couldn't be lower than 20 percent