Flat Tax

The first main advantage of the flat tax is its simplicity. Our current tax bill is over one thousand page[1]. In our current tax system, the sheer complexity of the tax bill allows for dozens of loopholes that can prevent the wealthy from paying their share of taxes. Instead of having hundreds of forms, the flat tax would have two to file, which would eliminate not only stress associated with filing taxes, but also no longer require the IRS and eliminate these loopholes[2]. The stress comes in the form of the average of 28 hours 30 minutes just to find out what is owed because of deductions and other complications. This loss of time leads to about a $200 billion loss in productivity annually[4]. This money is either lost from the individual or is payed to a corporation who handles it. With a flat tax, those jobs wouldn't be necessary, and the money could be used to spend on more productive economic activities than just finding out how much taxes need to be payed. The IRS is not only ineffective, but it is also very expensive to run. Since the IRS expends about 41 cents for every $100 they collect, the collection alone costs us just under $1.3 billion in tax revenue every year, not including these employee's salaries[3]. The IRS is also unproductive, as a government study showed the IRS toll-free number provided its callers with the wrong amounts to pay 25% of the time, as even the government has difficulty understanding its tax code[4]. Tax preparers have also proven ineffectual. 45 different tax calculations were received from 45 different tax preparers for the same tax return[4]. Also, as previously stated rich individuals get out of paying most of their taxes. The fact that different calculations were found 45 time proves that unfair loopholes and deductions exist. For this reason, rich individuals can afford to pay for the best tax preparers who can exploit the most portions of the tax bill. This contributes to the second point: the unfairness of the current progressive tax. The flat tax would tax people a percentage of their income and therefore, the proportions of taxes payed would be equal across all income levels. It is unfair to engage in a progressive tax because it punishes individuals for attaining higher incomes. This inherently disincentivizes individuals to produce more for the economy, as their net worth increases more slowly the more they earn. The reason we have a progressive tax is for redistribution of wealth, which incentivizes the poor to work less, since they would receive less government benefits if they earned more money, resulting in, again, a slower increase in net worth. There is no reason for a progressive tax. Those who make more money do so almost always because they produce more for the economy, and should be allowed to keep their earnings. This more fair system with no loopholes would lead to higher tax compliance. In fact, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have experienced increased economic growth since they have implemented flat taxes[5]. This is because the flat tax increases tax compliance, incentivizes entrepreneurs and investors to contribute more to the economy, and encourage foreign business investment by the simplicity of their tax code. [1]https://thinkprogress.org... [2]https://www.usnews.com... [3]https://www.irs.gov... [4]https://www.thebalance.com... [5]https://www.investopedia.com...