?The Flat Tax’
A Reaction Paper
The article on the Flat Tax system was actually one that I could relate to in
terms of personal taxes. I have heard of this ?new’ system over the last five or
six years, but I still have yet to see any type of action for implementation
with this system. Before becoming ?enlightened’ about the new system
through this article, I believed that the Flat Tax needed to be adopted by our
government and adopted immediately. The thought of only paying fifteen
percent to taxes is something that I relished. I always thought that a
straight fifteen percent tax across the board would be fair and adequate for
our system. I never truly understood the consequences the flat tax made
upon the debt. This, again, was all before reading the article in depth. I
appreciated the fact that the author presented numerous facts and examples
when he spoke of the advantages and disadvantages of the flat tax. Some of
these disadvantages I would never have known if not for this article. Most of
us hear of a new tax system and without knowing the details, we want to
jump into the new system believing that it will help all of us save some of our
income. Obviously, by employing this system, it will save us some income but
in the end, we will be paying higher taxes for other essentials. Taxes will be
paid by the consumer either on payroll or through the purchases of durable
and non-durable goods. There is no way around it. One way or the other we
are paying the taxes to support our country. The other astounding fact that I
received from the article was that the fifteen- percent would not even come
close to supporting our country. In fact, the country would be losing billions
overall. In order to support the country, the flat tax would have to increase
almost up to twenty-seven percent! Most people would probably not agree
with this data.
When I traveled to Ireland last winter, I noticed that when I purchased
something a VAT tax was imposed. I thought to myself, I could never live
here and pay this additional tax on my purchases. Little did I know that this
VAT tax was part of a flat tax system. I understand how the VAT tax helps keep
the debt from rising out of control, but there must be others ways of controlling
this. I have also visited other countries that have the same type of flat tax system
and they also have other means of reclaiming the taxes lost in the flat tax.
Canada, for example, has their people pay a large tax on their purchases and for
entertainment, such as dining.
In the long run, a flat tax looks like a system that all taxpayers would want.
However, most of these taxpayers will be in the same situation that I was in, not
enough education on the process. This places us at the disadvantage and helps
us make decisions based on false presumptions. I believe that the tax system
needs to be corrected and simplified, but this new and simplified system needs
to be equitable for all. How can this be done? This is something that needs to
answered by the experts and promoted by us.
Bibliography
none
Economics
