[quote=SK in CV][quote=Hatfield]I always liked the idea of a flat tax for individuals. Get rid of all deductions and AMT entirely. Everyone gets a standard deduction of say, $80k, and then tax perhaps 25% of all income above that. You’d have to tinker with these numbers but I bet you could dial it in where overall revenues are about what they are today with a much fairer tax structure overall.[/quote]
Most of the complications in the tax code have nothing to do with graduated marginal rates. They have to do with defining income. Under your flat tax idea, are the following items income?
Student loans
Cash out home refinance proceeds
Medical Insurance reimbursement
Medical insurance premiums paid by an employer on behalf of an employee
Other insurance reimbursements
Gross income from a trade or business (before any expenses)
Life insurance proceeds
I could go on. I hope you get my point.[/quote]
Actually, I have to confess that I don’t. I’m not sure that I understand any of these obfuscations. Loans are not income, so you can strike those examples. Reimbursements are not income. Gross income from a business is not income, net income is.
