> >In a nut shell, I'm for a graduated flat rate tax based on income and >net worth. For example, most pay 10% but net worth $1M (not incl >home) pay 20%.
In theory I like the idea of a graduated flat tax, but in practice the government uses tax breaks to reward or punish specific social behavior. For instance, the child credit is a form of social assistance for parents. It rewards people with children with a small benefit to help raising the children. The mortgage deduction is a better example. It is, in effect, a form of social welfare meant to encourage capitalist behavior- property ownership. I love it! >If we did that we'd probably get more tax dollars than we get today >with most individuals paying less. Further we'd be able to dismantle >one of the largest organizations in the world, the IRS. That would >save a lot of dough! I agree with the goal, but in practice voters would never allow the government to get rid of tax breaks like the mortgage deduction. An economist friend of mine cited a study once during a similar debate where people were given a choice of getting a 5% raise and having inflation go up by 2%, or getting a 3% raise with no inflation. Guess which one everyone chose? The 5% raise. Even if you explain to people that they will pay lower overall taxes with a flat system, people are trained to want the break, the exception, the special deal, and they will pick it every time. It would be an interesting battle to see if the public could be convinced based on logical arguments. Of course, politicians would lose a huge tool for enacting social policy, so it would be directly against their own interests to go to a flat system. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:147585 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
