Han wrote:
Mark & Juanita wrote in
:

Han wrote:

snip
As I understand it, the flat tax is not a rate of x% applied to
every income, whether $10/year or $10 billion/year, and it should
not, IMO!

What would appeal to me is the expiration of all special
treatments,
and possibly the imposition of a luxury tax on some set of
specified
items (thinking of gas-guzzling hummers).


Do you remember 1992 and the imposition of the "luxury tax" on
yachts?
Designed to punish (oops, afford the opportunity give back to the
country) the rich and well-to-do? Net effect? An entire US
industry
was bankrupted and moved offshore. Same thing with added tax to
luxury automobiles.

These kind of things always have unintended consequences and
seldom
garner the funds that their advocates claim.

I agree about the unintended consequences. The wealthy will find a
way. That does not make it right. Trying to save some oil was not
something that in hindsight the American public wanted. Now we have
$90/barrel oil and .

The rest of the world also has $90/barrel oil so I don't see what that
has to do with "a raidly devaluing dollar, with vastly increased
inflation just around the corner"

This class-envy stuff is going to kill the economy. We are
already
at a point where 10% of wage earners are paying 60% of all income
taxes but only earn 42% of all income. Now, what is this about
not
paying their "fair share"?

Huh? If someone earns $10/hr, should he pay the same percentage of
income in taxes as someone earning $100/hr? Or $1000/hr? Would
that
be fair?

Any system based in "give us money or we will confiscate your goods
and property and arrest you" is unfair. There is no such thing as a
"fair" tax system. A single rate system at least has the benefit of
being _simple_.

Congress is way out of line with special privileges, and the IRS
with their
What are you defining as special privileges?

I thought there were a few instances of Congress and the IRS giving
some very narrowly delineated groups of people or businesses very
big
breaks on their taxes.

Sometimes very narrowly delineated groups of people or businesses have
special concerns that need to be addressed if the system is to appear
to be "fair".

obfuscation in legalese of good intentions. I could not possibly
go
and do my own income taxes now without the experience of the past
37
years.

I take as much advantage of the tax laws that I am allowed, but
sometimes feel a little guilty that I get some some income on which
I
pay only 15%, while I am really in a far higher tax bracket. And I
am some ways away from the AMT (I hope).

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)