[Angel]

He goes on to say Congress could tweek the rate depending on revenue. I think a "flat tax" of 26 to 28% is way to high. I hope you will read the whole article and tell me what you think.

[Phocion]

Congress would meddle before that point arrives. In the eyes of Congress, they derive most of their power from the ability to target specific groups for "reward" or "punishment" through the tax code.

[Galactica]

I think when Pat Buchanan was running for president he was proposing a flat tax around 22%.

[nmh]

I'm all for a FLAT TAX. Been for it for years - Forbes ... but a flat tax of 26-28% - heck might was well NOT change the system. It's way too high. 10-15% would be more reasonable.

[Reagan Man]

The Altenative Minimum Tax should be abolished immediately. The AMT was placed in the tax code in 1969, based on Congressional testimony that 165 Americans had paid NO federal income tax in 1967. But it was never indexed for inflation. For years the AMT affected less than 1 percent of all taxpayers. In 2005 the AMT effected roughly 3 percent of all taxpayers. Without changes to the tax code the AMT will penalize nearly 20 percent of taxpayers by 2010. Kill it!

[uglybiker]

So-called 'fair' tax spam to be posted in 5...4...3...2...

[KarlInOhio]

You can have a progressive tax code or a flat one (or regressive like the SS tax is). You can have a simple tax or a nightmarishly complex one. Pick one from column A and one from column B to select your method of taxaton.

Our current tax code is progressive and complex. The AMT is "flat" (really 3 rates, 0, 26 and 28%), but complex because you have to calculate your regular tax too and because some income is subject to the AMT while others isn't.

Although Steve Forbes pushes the flat tax, his real advantage is simplification, not flatness. You could have a very simple progressive tax - how much did you make and look that up on a chart to find your tax.

The SS tax is near the ideal for simplification because the average tax payer never does anything with it. Only people owning small businesses or people who go over the maximum taxable amount between multiple jobs have to fill out anything for it.

So far I haven't had to deal with the AMT. TurboTax just says that I don't have to pay any additional because of it. I don't know if that is because I am below the exemption limit, or if my AMT is less than I have to pay anyway.

[KarlInOhio]

You can have a progressive tax code or a flat one (or regressive like the SS tax is). You can have a simple tax or a nightmarishly complex one. Pick one from column A and one from column B to select your method of taxaton.

Our current tax code is progressive and complex. The AMT is "flat" (really 3 rates, 0, 26 and 28%), but complex because you have to calculate your regular tax too and because some income is subject to the AMT while others isn't.

Although Steve Forbes pushes the flat tax, his real advantage is simplification, not flatness. You could have a very simple progressive tax - how much did you make and look that up on a chart to find your tax.

The SS tax is near the ideal for simplification because the average tax payer never does anything with it. Only people owning small businesses or people who go over the maximum taxable amount between multiple jobs have to fill out anything for it.

So far I haven't had to deal with the AMT. TurboTax just says that I don't have to pay any additional because of it. I don't know if that is because I am below the exemption limit, or if my AMT is less than I have to pay anyway.

[Torie]

Interesting angle. I had not had the insight before, but the author is right. The only problem is that I oppose the flat tax. High income earners should pay more. I think a top rate of from 35% to 40% is about right. Certain kinds of capital gains should be at a lower rate, but not dividends. JMO.

[Man50D]

The current tax code began as a flat tax when enacted in 1913. The first tax ranged from merely 1% on the first $20,000 of taxable income and was only 7% on incomes above $500,000. Only 2% of the population was taxed. It has evolved into an oppressive complex 60,000+ page tax code taxing more than 80% of the population.

Fair Tax Ping!

[Tribune7]

Rather than "flat tax" we should be concentrating on simplying the tax code.

The code is now 17,000 pages and 5.5 million words.

We should write a new one from scratch limiting it to 25 pages (nice big type, lots of white space) and 7,000 words (hmmm what real successful document is 7,000 words long?)

It is possible for one person to read the tax code. At about 40 minutes a day it could be done in about two and a half years. It would be a pretty serious waste of time. It's a lot easier just to scrap it and start over.

[ancient_geezer]

A Taxreform bump for you all.

If anyone would like to be added to this ping list let me know.

John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25) offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and SS/Medicare payroll taxes outright and replace them with with a national retail sales tax administered by the states.

H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.

Refer for additional information:

• search: "national sales tax" OR "national retail sales tax" OR "fairtax"

[Republican Wildcat]

If you confuse this on first read with "ATM" rather than "AMT" you get quite a different meaning. LOL!