Tax Code: Anything But Flat

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The Tax Code: Anything But Flat
To explain the current U.S. federal tax code, it would take 73,954 normal 8 ½ by 11 sheets of paper. The number of words in the tax code is equal to approximately four times all of the words in the entire Harry Potter series combined (in the range of four million words). Albert Einstein once said, “The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.” If tax is the hardest thing in the world for a genius to understand, doesn’t it seem right that this country needs a change? The tax issue has sprouted a debate. A debate as to whether or not we, as a country, should rebuild our tax code.
One proposal to help fix our system is called flat tax. The United States currently uses what’s called a progressive …show more content…
There are different kinds of taxes, tax brackets, and tax loopholes. No one could ever understand the federal tax code to the fullest extent, so those who can hire tax professionals are usually able to reduce their taxes, while the rest of our country struggles through the code. I say this as someone who is just beginning to have to make sense of it all. The current system is daunting, and I think we need a change. The flat tax would streamline the American tax code. No more tax brackets, loopholes, with a single tax rate for everyone in the country. The tax filing system would be far easier and everyone filing taxes would have the same requirements. This would be especially helpful for people like me who aren’t keen to spend months just trying to understand how to file my first tax …show more content…
The current system, called a progressive tax system, staggers it’s rates, which can range anywhere from less than 10% to more than 40% depending on your wealth. On the other hand we have a flat tax system, which would create a level playing field for everyone in the country. Not only does it simplify taxation itself, but it would create a system where Americans understand, and can plan for taxes they owe.
Some may argue that because flat tax lowers the tax rates for the rich that it favors the wealthy. However, due to our current system’s excessive complexity, the wealthy have hired tax lawyers to find what are called loopholes in the tax code. Many experts agree that the tax loopholes are only taken advantage of by those with high incomes, however that would change with a flat tax. No longer could the rich evade taxes at the rest of the country’s expense. Realistically, while the flat tax proposal would drop the wealthy’s tax rate, some may end up paying more in taxes simply because of the lack of
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