Naysayers of the flat tax argue that its implementation will transfer wealth from poor and middle-class Americans to the very rich. This is simply not the case. And, despite claims to the contrary, the flat tax is progressive. As the table below illustrates, families with higher incomes will pay more in taxes than families with lower incomes. With the flat tax, a taxpayer who earns ten times as much as their neighbor will pay ten times as much in taxes.
All figures assume a family consisting of a married couple with two children.
By and large, a person s income correlates with their productivity and overall contribution to the economy. Research indicates that the vast majority of wealthy people in the United States have amassed their wealth through years of hard work and savings, not through inheritances or lavish trust funds. It is wrong to suggest that the wealthy have benefited at the expense of lower-income individuals. Yet, in an attempt to transfer wealth from those who have contributed to the economy to those who have been economically less productive, the current tax code punishes productive behavior. The current tax code hurts those who try to save and invest for the future by taxing investment income two or three times.