Is a flat tax system better than a progressive tax?

Topic:
U.S. Political Debates

21 Contributors
in this discussion.

Yes
57% of users

  • A National Sales Tax would be better

    A national sales tax, such as the FairTax which can be found at faritax.org is even better than a flat tax. It eliminates much of power of politicians to favor any group. And, for you "tax the rich" people, it still affects wealthy Americans more as they pay more tax because they purchase higher priced goods and services. Low income workers will pay no, or lower taxes than they currently do because the fairtax eliminates taxes that disproportionately affect them. Even drug pushers and black-market folks pay tax. Everyone over 150% of the poverty level also has "skin in the game".

    Yes Anonymous

  • A flat tax that eliminates loopholes, and is a more equitable form of taxation, as it evens the playing field among all income groups.

    A flat tax that charges citizens the same rate across the board would be the most equitable form of taxation, as long as the loopholes are closed. Under the current taxation system in the United States, the wealthy, corporations, and higher earners typically pay less in income tax than middle class residents, because of the excessive and unfair loopholes in the tax code. Even billionaire, Warren Buffett, noted that he paid less in income tax than his personal secretary. A flat tax system would share government costs equally.

    Yes P3nrIin

  • Promoted Saving, Saving benefits everyone with lower interest rates

    Progressive tax system does little to promote savings across the board. Having a flat sales tax would encourage everyone to save their money and invest. Investment capitol is what powers the economy. More savings drop interest rates. Low interest rates enable SBO to take out loans and expand their businesses. Seems like simple macroeconomics.

    Yes Anonymous

  • simply- it's equal

    "Everyone pays their fair share" - isn't that the message that everyone agrees with? It doesn't matter if one person making 25k or 50k, everyone would pay their fair share. Is everyone suggesting that because I make 15k/year I should keep it all and benefit from all the "help" I have access to? A flat tax of 20%, 15, 10, or even 0 for everyone is still not fair? If everyone paid 0% tax- is that not fair? Does the person making less than average exempt to steal/get free money from someone else? If 0% is as fair as you can get, what difference does it make in the arbitrary percentage value charged in a flat tax?

    Yes Anonymous

  • Yes, because a flat tax is more fair and less complicated.

    I support flat tax because it taxes everyone at the same rate. In my opinion, progressive tax punishes those who work hard to earn more. By imposing a flat tax, I reckon more people are willing to work harder, and there will be less people who will try to cheat on their taxes.

    Yes FeIBuddy

  • What's Progressive about it?

    What exactly is progressive about punishing the productive? What exactly is unfair about everyone paying the same rate? The poor don't pay tax. They are exempted. The rich don't either. They pay lawyers to find loopholes. The middle gets screwed.

    Yes Anonymous

  • Why not tax everyone equally instead of unequally?

    I believe that the system of a progressive tax is unfair. Everyone earns money according to the amount of time, energy and education that they have expended, as well as the experience they have garnered. Therefore, everyone should pay an equal portion of their income to a tax if there is going to be one. In the end it will end up the same: if the tax is 10% then someone with $10,000 in income will pay $1,000, while someone with $10 million will pay $1 million. This way both will have been equally dealt with and can feel that the system treats each fairly. Until there is a flat tax not based on how much you make but only a percentage of what you make, then the system will remain unfair and create controversy and tax cheaters.

    Yes MariaR

  • Under a flat tax system, everyone pays the same rate and the rich and powerful don't receive massive tax breaks to where they may wind up paying no taxes.

    A flat tax rate - and the figure mentioned most often seems to be about 15% - is much fairer and more equitable than the current tax system which encourages those earning large amounts of money to pay no taxes at all while the common, ordinary wage earner pays a disproportionate amount. Under a flat tax system, everyone would pay the same percentage of their income with no special privileges attached. While a national sales tax would probably be an even better solution, a flat tax would not penalize someone who earns $30,000 a year by making them pay out more than a millionaire who winds up paying nothing because of tax shelters. This is an idea which has been kicked around for years and which should have been adopted some time ago. Under a flat tax system, we wouldn't be experiencing the economic difficulties we are currently going through.

    Yes SteinCor

  • A flat tax could be a great idea if it were implemented without any consideration of write offs and exemptions.

    All citizens partake in government services in some form or another whether they like to admit it or not. Therefore, all citizens should help fund those services. For far too long the middle class has born a heavily disproportionate share of these costs. The current tax system has led to great divisions among the population as far too many people are seen as "not contributing."

    Yes vempyrik 66

  • I believe a flat tax system is better, because everyone gets taxed.

    A flat tax system is better because everyone including illegals and people who do not pay taxes get taxed. I think it is a fantastic idea and would bring the united states out of the recession it is in. There are a lot of under the table jobs that people do not pay taxes on, it is not fair for the people who do pay their taxes.

    Yes TaFiel

  • A Flat Tax rewards the people who are creating wealth

    For all of its shortcomings, capitalism has proven to be the most efficient way of creating and distributing wealth. Unfortunately, life isn't fair or just. If it were, then schoolteachers would make as much money as CEOs. However, it is those inequalities that drive innovation and creativity. A capitalist system rewards those who provide goods and services that people want. By allowing the rich to make more and more money, we encourage them to do and invest in things that we want. In the short term, inequality is increased, but in the long term, everyone wins. Government should be in the business of making sure that the rules of the game are fair, not in redistributing the winnings.

    Yes Iuk45Grinder

  • A flat tax can more easily move to a reverse income tax, the fairest option for all. Progressive taxes create loopholes that mostly benefit the wealthy.

    Over the course of time we did not have an income tax for a long time. The only reason that this was successfully introduced was as a way of taking the rich down a peg or two and forcing them to help the most distressed at a time when public suffering was widespread. As inflation and creep caused more and more people to need to file the tax law became bigger and bigger, and now it's a problem from one end of the economic spectrum to the other. It is doing exactly what was intended to be avoided by not having one, and was not supposed to happen as a condition of the first income tax. Flat taxes are an important step towards a return to our liberty.

    Yes groovybox
Voice Your Opinion
No
43% of users

  • I oppose a flat tax. A flat tax disproportionately affects low income people.

    Each person uses part of his or her income for necessities (food and shelter), as well as things all people should have access to (health care and education for example). Given a flat tax, a person with higher income will be able to pay their tax out of their disposable income. A person with low income, on the other hand, will have to sacrifice basic needs to pay their tax.

    No UptightSamuel

  • I disagree, because a flat tax only benefits the wealthy.

    A flat tax is not better than a progressive tax, because it benefits only the wealthy. Flat taxes increase the rate which middle-class people are taxed at, and lower taxes for the rich. Making the tax code simpler would be great. But, the amount of income lost would be devastating to the economy and, once taxes were lowered, it'd be next to impossible to get them back up.

    No GreenDarnell

  • No, because a flat tax will disproportionately harm the poor.

    A flat tax is much worse than a progressive tax. For example, imagine a flat 50% tax rate. Someone making $30,000 is left with only $15,000, and is made desperately poor by the tax system. Someone making $10,000,000 is left with $5,000,000, and is still a millionaire. The effect of losing a certain percentage of your money is practically greater for those with less money. Therefore, it is appropriate to tax them less.

    No tacomoon

  • isn't it obvious?

    why loathe people in wealth, while people in society are struggling, homeless, jobless while looking, and can't afford their daily food.

    No Anonymous

  • A flat tax unnecessarily punishes the poor and is a terrible idea.

    A flat tax punished the poor because the percentage of tax represents much more of their usable income. For example, if you make $100 and there is a flat tax of 30%, that leaves you with only $70 for living expenses. If you make $1000, the flat tax leaves you $700 for living expenses. Obviously, the person that makes more is not as affected by the tax because they have so much left after taxes. This makes the poor poorer and the rich richer. Taxes should be progressive, charging more to the richer and less to the poorer.

    No Fr4Giga

  • I prefer a progressive tax to a flat tax because it is fairer to those in need.

    A flat tax would inevitably benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, who can less afford to pay their incomes to the tax collectors. Furthermore, wealthier individuals frequently benefit more from the use of tax money in, for example, the development of infrastructure. A person who owns a trucking company, for example, makes more demands on roadway infrastructure than ordinary citizens in private vehicles, and as a result it becomes necessary to expend more money maintaining and expanding roadways to accommodate these trucks. The wealthy should pay more in taxes, and a progressive tax would achieve this while hopefully simplifying a tax code so complex that countless millions are wasted just evaluating and challenging the tax records of American citizens.

    No justinmckin

  • A flat tax generally penalizes the lower income group and benefits the higher income group when compared to the tax structure today.

    This is one more idea that benefits the wealthy yet has been sold to the middle and lower income groups as a good idea by trying to state that it is the fair way to do things. This would significantly lower the taxes of the wealthy while raising the taxes of the lower income groups. This would lead to furthering the gap between the haves and have nots, which is not good for a society or economy in general.

    No 54IInferno

  • A flat tax is not better than a progressive tax because it benefits the wealthy only.

    A flat tax is not better than a progressive tax because it benefits the wealthy only. Flat taxes increase the rate at which the poor and middle classes are taxes at, while decreasing the rate for the rich. Making the tax code simpler would be great, but the amount of income lost would be devastating to the economy and once taxes were lowered, it'd be next to impossible to get them back up.

    No H0bi3Invader

  • While it may be convenient, the slack would then need to be made up, especially in the US.

    Businesses, workers, they all earn various incomes, and should be taxed on the level of income they are generating. Considering the implications we have to save taxes, it would be more beneficial for the government to impose a progressive tax, as opposed to the flat. Despite of course the convenience of being cheaper.

    No Bear
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