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RAHN: The end of the progressive income tax
Washington Times ^ | July 7, 2014 | Richard Rahn

Posted on 07/10/2014 5:40:08 AM PDT by 1rudeboy

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To: ExTxMarine

No argument from me, but still won’t happen.


21 posted on 07/10/2014 7:27:14 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: John Valentine

good luck docking payments made outside the US

and thank you for the tax free apples


22 posted on 07/10/2014 7:31:36 AM PDT by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
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To: 17th Miss Regt

Yeah, well, good luck with that.

The reality is that any number of thousands of Federal bureaucrats can destroy you on a whim. And, unless you are very wealthy, there is little you can do.


23 posted on 07/10/2014 7:42:14 AM PDT by stinkerpot65 (Global warming is a Marxist lie.)
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To: taxcontrol

That is very unfair to small states and will never pass.


24 posted on 07/10/2014 7:52:27 AM PDT by expat2
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To: econjack

[ Better yet, get rid of the IRS and go with the Fair Tax.
I’d agree, except for the concept of a “Prebate”, which is supposed to be a minimum income available to low-income people. The value of the prebate is determined by Congress, and once you do that, you’re right back where you started from. Either remove the prebate or can the Fair Tax.

I’ll go with Milton Friedman’s 17% flat tax on all sources of income. If you have wage, interest, dividend, or capital gain income, the distributing institution withholds 17% and sends it to the new Tax Collections department, since the IRS is now defunct. Your new Federal Tax form now fits on a postcard and the Tax Code is one sentence long: You owe us 17% of all income. Done. ]

I rather like a 10% Flat Tariff on all imported goods.


25 posted on 07/10/2014 7:56:03 AM PDT by GraceG (No, My Initials are not A.B.)
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To: sten

I think this law applies only to transfers of funds into or out of the US.

I know that’s how it applies to me.

I also know that’s why many banks are considering withdrawing from the US market entirely, and are dropping US citizen clients abroad.

Our government has lost its mind.


26 posted on 07/10/2014 8:17:47 AM PDT by John Valentine (Deep in the Heart of Texas)
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To: GraceG
I rather like a 10% Flat Tariff on all imported goods.

Why? Do you mean adding this tax on top of the flat tax, or this tax instead of the flat tax?

27 posted on 07/10/2014 8:29:59 AM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: econjack

[ I rather like a 10% Flat Tariff on all imported goods.

Why? Do you mean adding this tax on top of the flat tax, or this tax instead of the flat tax? ]

No as the ONLY federal “Tax” replacing all others and capped at 10%.


28 posted on 07/10/2014 8:45:58 AM PDT by GraceG (No, My Initials are not A.B.)
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To: GraceG

In 2013, total imports were $2.756586 trillion dollars. 10% of that is $275 billion. Our Congress would spin through that in a couple of months. US military spending alone in 2009 was $283.3. Seems to me you either need to make MASSIVE cuts in federal spending, or figure out a new revenue source.


29 posted on 07/10/2014 8:56:53 AM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: econjack

Seems to me you either need to make MASSIVE cuts in federal spending,

Yes please!


30 posted on 07/10/2014 9:00:34 AM PDT by GraceG (No, My Initials are not A.B.)
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To: econjack
I'll go with Milton Friedman's 17% flat tax on all sources of income. If you have wage, interest, dividend, or capital gain income, the distributing institution withholds 17% and sends it to the new Tax Collections department, since the IRS is now defunct. Your new Federal Tax form now fits on a postcard and the Tax Code is one sentence long: You owe us 17% of all income. Done.

I call BS on the idea that this will simplify anything. The big question is always how do you define 'income'. For the average employed person, the 1040EZ is already pretty simple. For somebody with money, the question of what is income, what is deductible, will always be there. And for business, there will always be the need for accountants to keep track of deductible and non-deductible expense.

All the work of the income tax is deciding what is income. Working out the final tax from the tax tables or tax brackets is a couple of minutes.

Milton Friedman was blowing smoke. Any form of income tax is evil, as it gives the government control over your life.

31 posted on 07/10/2014 11:11:40 AM PDT by slowhandluke (It's hard to be cynical enough in this age.)
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To: econjack

I like that.
But I like taxing consumption better than taxing productivity...


32 posted on 07/10/2014 11:33:47 AM PDT by Little Ray (How did I end up in this hand-basket, and why is it getting so hot?)
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To: slowhandluke

If you don’t have taxes of some sort, you do not have a government.

Or rather, you don’t till someone invades and forces one on you.


33 posted on 07/10/2014 12:32:38 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: GraceG
I agree...I'd love to see cuts in federal spending, but not beyond the duties of the Federal gov't. Charles Beard wrote a text (An Economci Interpretation of the Constitution) that says the gov't has two primary responsibilities: 1) the policing of property rights (e.g., a legal system), and 2) the provision of social overhead capital (e.g., a standing military, transportation and communication infrastructure, etc.). I think these must be provided and $283 billion isn't going to cut it.

What I want to do away with are all of the programs where gov't competes with private industry (e.g., SBA, Student Loans, ObozoCare, etc.) or funds agencies that can pass laws that have economic consequences without the consent of Congress (e.g., EPA, HHS, NLRB, etc.) I would also say that any law Congress does pass applies equally to them...no more of this I'm-more-important-than-you-so-this-law-doesn't-apply-to-me. Screw that...it's a goose-gander thing to me.

34 posted on 07/10/2014 12:38:31 PM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: slowhandluke
I call BS on the idea that this will simplify anything. The big question is always how do you define 'income'. For the average employed person, the 1040EZ is already pretty simple. For somebody with money, the question of what is income, what is deductible, will always be there. And for business, there will always be the need for accountants to keep track of deductible and non-deductible expense.

You don't get it. The 1040EZ form has little to do with the accounting of income. It is simple because there are no complex deductions. Likewise, businesses wouldn't need a staff of tax accountants and lawyers because there would be no deductions. You pay 17% of income...there are no deductions. Personally, I'd make the tax rate on business 15% of income. Any tax on a domestic business ultimately ends up as a tax on the individual anyway.

There's no problem figuring out income. Any payment to you from someone else would be income. You're confusing the concept of income with the current concept of net income.

Unless you have some kind of social system that has no form of gov't yet remains viable, you need some way to fund gov't. Friedman's idea is workable. The only tax that is truly evil is a tax on wealth, not income.

35 posted on 07/10/2014 12:49:37 PM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: econjack
Likewise, businesses wouldn't need a staff of tax accountants and lawyers because there would be no deductions. You pay 17% of income...there are no deductions

Even if the bottom line is less than 17% of income? That would destroy most every business.

36 posted on 07/10/2014 1:06:55 PM PDT by Raycpa
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To: Wolfie

Increase the sales tax and a very low flat income tax rate 12%. And watch the economy go crazy upward.


37 posted on 07/10/2014 1:29:28 PM PDT by nikos1121
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To: 1rudeboy

We need to dump the IRS and the income tax.

But that’s never going to happen.

All the government’s real power is in the IRS.


38 posted on 07/10/2014 1:29:59 PM PDT by Tzimisce
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To: 1rudeboy

No more progressive tax, just 100% on everything


39 posted on 07/10/2014 2:12:55 PM PDT by BigEdLB (Now there ARE 1,000,000 regrets - but it may be too late.)
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To: econjack

“I’d agree, except for the concept of a “Prebate”, which is supposed to be a minimum income available to low-income people.”

Nope, the prebate is a refund for the taxes paid at a borderline poverty level of spending. That makes the Fair Tax less regressive (penalizing to lower income folk) than any type of flat tax. It’s a means of not having to categorize various things as “not taxable” like food. Is candy food or not? Is soda? Etc. Everyone who cares to, regardless of income level, can receive the prebate.

I don’t particularly love it either, but no purely regressive tax is going to fly.


40 posted on 07/10/2014 2:28:31 PM PDT by PreciousLiberty
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