CP and I were talking and the issue of a flat tax arose. He recommended I start a new thread to has out the flat tax idea - so here it is.
I tend to think of myself as a fiscal conservative. I don't have any objection to spending money on programs that align with my social liberalism, so some people might object to me calling myself a fiscal conservative. What I mean when I say that is that I believe governments should fiscally operate on two principles:
1) The budget should ALWAYS be balanced (spend what you take in and no more). That includes a path to paying off any debt. I understand the need, sometimes, to incur debt. But it should be carefully time-bounded and amount-limited
2) Taxes should be simple and applied using the same rule for all people.
That is why the flat tax I advocate has:
1) Only one standard deduction based on the cost-of-living for 1 (for an individual return) or 2, 3, or 4 people (for a family.group return).
2) All income above that deduction is taxed at the same rate for everyone, which is set annually to correspond to the revenue required for the projected spending for that year plus/minus any loss/gain from the previous year, minus projected income from any/all other revenue sources (e.g., fees, tariffs, etc.).
3) No business taxes for any business
No other deductions (mortgage, charity, business, etc.).
Discuss!
I tend to think of myself as a fiscal conservative. I don't have any objection to spending money on programs that align with my social liberalism, so some people might object to me calling myself a fiscal conservative. What I mean when I say that is that I believe governments should fiscally operate on two principles:
1) The budget should ALWAYS be balanced (spend what you take in and no more). That includes a path to paying off any debt. I understand the need, sometimes, to incur debt. But it should be carefully time-bounded and amount-limited
2) Taxes should be simple and applied using the same rule for all people.
That is why the flat tax I advocate has:
1) Only one standard deduction based on the cost-of-living for 1 (for an individual return) or 2, 3, or 4 people (for a family.group return).
2) All income above that deduction is taxed at the same rate for everyone, which is set annually to correspond to the revenue required for the projected spending for that year plus/minus any loss/gain from the previous year, minus projected income from any/all other revenue sources (e.g., fees, tariffs, etc.).
3) No business taxes for any business
No other deductions (mortgage, charity, business, etc.).
Discuss!
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