The flat tax debate has been center stage debate for all the presidential candidates this last week.
It looks like it’s going to dominate the 2012 elections and be a primary deciding factor.
I have read many analysis that a flat tax system will immediately erase 10-15% of housing valuation in the first year based on the elimination of the mortgage interest deduction.
I ask Piggs, what are your conjectures about the affects a flat tax will have on the mortgage interest deduction and ultimately on housing prices in high valuation areas such as coastal SD?
I do not see it coming about because there are too many people tied to the complicated system we use and not just those with deductions. I would guess some of the real high rollers do not have house payments, as well as some of the folks who have owned their house for 50 years and paid it off a long time ago. It will be interesting to see what each party says, but I am not sure the Republicans want to upset the apple cart with mortgage deductions. I have no idea if it will erase that much valuation, but that might be a stimulus to the economy.
“Rick Perry is proposing letting Americans choose between their existing income tax rate or a new flat tax of 20 percent, part of a tax and spending reform plan that the Republican presidential candidate is dubbing ‘Cut, Balance and Grow.'”
“A fascinating article points out that the government could make the process of filing your tax returns significantly easier by simply sending you pre-filled out forms of what they know (basically what’s been sent in from your employer(s)) so that you could just take the pre-filled form, check it over, make any additions or changes as necessary and submit it. Apparently, many places that have done this have had great success with it. But it’s not happening in the US in large part due to heavy lobbying from Intuit, who fears (perhaps correctly) that this would put a big dent into its tax preparation software business.”
I remember when Dick Armey (heh) had this topic front and center in the country for quite awhile. Everyone was talking about it. Then overnight, poof, topic was never mentioned again.
I predict a repeat performance of that scenario. it’s an idea that has appeal on the surface, but nobody ever seems to like details when they are laid out.
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