Flat Taxes.

[adios]

Andy wrote:

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The payroll tax is a particularly egregious regressive tax that counteracts the effect of the progressive income tax

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I responded in part with:

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Also their is a max amount paid in payroll taxes per tax year. But yeah it's a regressive tax on the middle class.

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You asked:

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I think you are mistaken. There is no cap on the payroll tax. Are you thinking of the social security tax?

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The answer to your question is yes. I was referring to what you call the social security tax and Andy calls the payroll tax. I was using Andy's term.

[andyfox]

Where did I say it's regressive?

What I did say is it's a crock.

[Ray Zee]

yea we will have a VAT someday. but i favor the flat tax for what it does. it eliminates the 2000 bucks a year i pay for my return. and i then wouldnt have to spend any time tracking expenses and stuff. makes life easier. plus you could start it at say 20,000 and that takes away some of its bite on the middle and lower class. the big plus is that since it would be hard to raise it congress might have to control spending somewhat.

[andyfox]

$2,000? You need a new acountant. I use a Beverly Hills crook and even he doesn't cost that much. (And I sure hope he's not a lurker here.) And there are a helluva lot of forms he (or I should say, the computer) fills out for my return, since I have my greedy little fingers in a lot of pies.

I don't see how the flax tax will be hard to raise. I think it would be easier to raise than the current system, since there are a bunch of differnet rates for them to play around with now.

[HDPM]

I like Forbes's plan except 17% is way too high. I think a flat tax of no more than 10% is good. 5% is better. There should be no tax breaks or deductions for having rug rats. Of course, then we would have to eliminate soc. sec., medicaid, medicare, the dept of education, HUD, DEA, ATF, and irrational wars, etc.... What a shame. To live in a free country and have money....

[andyfox]

It wouldn't be a free country for too long. There'd be anarchy followed by revolution.

[Zeno]

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There'd be anarchy followed by revolution.

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Now your talk'in!

Le Misanthrope

[Zeno]

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The problem with the US income tax code is that defining income for all income earners makes the tax code very complicated.

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You got that right. I'm trying to do my own taxes and since I became self-employed and work out of my home etc it is a friggin nightmare. The tax code is a delirium tremens.

-Zeno

[HDPM]

No, there wouldn't be anarchy. All the really necessary govt functions could continue. Local law enforcement would continue as before. Just fewer hearings on Janet Jackson's breast and wine and whiskey makers wouldn't have to account for evaporation. Important stuff like that would be gone. Elimination of welfare would be a temporary problem. That is why I said before that I'd have a phaseout of soc. sec, not an immediate elimination. Even though people on it have no right to it.

[Taxman]

The problem with eliminating (or privatizing) welfare is that the poor are basically left to die in times of economic depression. That's what it was like before welfare came into use. Nobody will contribute when they themselves are not prospering. Yeah, yeah they earned it (mostly), but that doesn't mean that the disadvantaged (or especially their children) deserve to starve. Local law enforcement can't continue as before unless we're paying for it. If there were little to no taxes, we'd have to pay for it out of pocket, which sounds suspiciously similar to buying mob protection. Your model is too simplistic. We need many of those organizations, not just to regulate ourselves, but to protect us from outside intrusions. You may be in favor of legalizing drugs, and so am I, but only the ones that will not cause people to hurt other people (PCP, meth etc., should never be legalized) . Someone still needs to look out for those. Eliminating public education is ridiculous as well. Under our current system, it is considered a fundamental right, and I think it should remain that way. Joe Blow working down at the steel mill may not be on welfare, but he still can't send his kind to private school, even if he gets a whole $1200 per year more on his paychecks.