- This is not recommending that the federal income tax is the best way to adjust tax burden.
- I used the max bracket $$ amount for ease to show the difference between household burdens.
- This is not considering the high-end surtax that is still unclear how far-reaching it may be. You can make your own guesses adjusting my 84% number below (it won't change my main conclusion)
- Democrats are so weak and useless that I had no way to compare them here as well.
Notice the percent reduction is my way of comparing the impacts of the tax rate change. This is the change in taxes owed for federal taxes (excluding credits). When using a flat tax, the highest reduction is for ~5% of Americans (the top 5, of course), while in my plan, the highest tax reduction is for brackets where 74% of Americans are. See how painless this was for me to create. Think of how little thought had to go in to ensure that we didn't have to make significant cuts in helpful tax deductions like those for children, retirement, and home ownership.
Another step to this would be to see how this effects the total accumulation of tax revenue. This would need some modeling, so I will sidestep it for now. One thing to note is who pays federal income tax. The top 1% of Americans pay nearly 39%, while the bottom 95% pay just 40%. This is actually good in my plan, because a tax group that will barely feel my rate hike will be able to secure the 2014 budget, or even maybe help us combat our long-term debt.
This is coming at a time when the top 1% and the top 0.1% are finally returning from historically low tax rates. The question is, should we replenish the tax vacation when it has come to little, if any, benefit to the rest of society? Or should we demand sacrifice from those who have recovered from the recession to secure America's future and invest in the next generation?
I feel like these points are simply too easy. I feel like I may be wasting my time. Then again, Americans are fooled year after year by this same rhetoric. If you are reading this, understand the implications, but still support the Republican plan, I won't be turning you in this post.