I was once a flat tax supporter but have now changed my mind. I have come to see how attempts to flatten the current system get undone almost as quickly as they are implemented. Reagan flattened it as much as anybody has ever done and he wasn't even out of office before his reforms started to be undone. I no longer see adjusting rates and closing exemptions as a long term viable solution. We are no longer at the point where taking a scalpel to the tax code will work, but rather we need to bring out a chainsaw.
My biggest concern is the class warfare involved in an income tax system. We are now at a dangerous tipping point where more people are becoming takers than givers with the federal coffers. Look at Greece, Italy, Spain, etc. The majority of citizens are on the receiving end and don't want to agree to give up any of their share. Those on the paying end have nothing left to give. We are about there too. The takers will vote for the politicians who promise more and, since they are the majority, there is nothing that will stop them until it all collapses.
I have come to be a proponent of the FairTax because everybody needs to see themselves as paying into the system. I want to see the income tax system completely scrapped and the 16th amendment repealed (along with the 17th). I don't want hidden taxes like the VAT. I don't like the euphemism "FairTax" either and would prefer a National Sales Tax with all other federal taxes be eliminated. I want everybody to see on every receipt for every item they purchase the line showing "Federal Tax:" so they see the exact cost of government they want on a daily basis. Every time I hear a person arguing about whether the FairTax is 23%, or 30%, or whatever I laugh. It could be set as a 50% sales tax for all I care. Is that too high? Absolutely! That's the point. If everyone can see what it takes to pay for the government the people want, they may actually end up wanting less. The problem with the FairTax rate is the spending that it is meant to cover, not the rate in the tax itself. The more transparent the tax the better. VAT taxes, employer paid payroll taxes, and the like are all meant to hide the cost of government. Only when EVERYONE has to pay and sees how much it is they are paying on a daily basis will there be any inclination to control the spending.
Yes, a flat 10% across the board with no exemptions would accomplish having everyone paying into the system. I would love to see that too, but I would prefer a complete end to the income tax altogether even more so as to minimize the class warfare and politics of envy that is a part of an income tax. I also don't want people to have the 10% (or whatever) tax rate hidden on their direct deposited paychecks and dealth with only on April 15. I want the Federal behemoth to confront them with a tax bill every single day.
The so-called “Fair Tax” is not
It is a National Sales tax- which I would support - with some provisions I will NEVER support
1) The ‘prebate’ - What do you want to do- make it even EASIER for dems to get elected? “Vote for me and next year your ‘pre-bate’ will be $4000 instead of $3000
2) 27% rate? huh? seriously? a third of everything you spend?
3) “tax-inclusive” calculation. I swear I will beat to death the next person who tries to explain to me that this complicated, hidden, and deceptive tax calculation method is “better”
Get rid of those three things, and make it a 10% national sales tax and I’m in- I am just NOT infavor of what is given the nice Orwellian label: “The Fair Tax”