Is it Time for a Flat Tax?

Flat tax is defined as an income tax system in which everyone pays the same tax rate no matter his or her income. In 1913, the United States established an income tax to raise money for the government. In our current system, income tax is applied to various parties. Individuals, companies, corporations, an almost every entity that produces an income gets taxed. However, partnerships are not taxed. To calculate the taxable income, allowable deductions are subtracted from the total income. There are specific rules and guidelines for income taxation depending on the person or entity filing. For example, someone with a higher income is going to be taxed at a higher rate than someone with a lower income. Taxpayers generally self assess their income tax by filing tax returns to the IRS. Currently, filing for income tax requires, lengthy instructions, record, keeping, forms, worksheets and schedules. With all these necessities, it causes headaches for the taxpayers involved. This also does not include Social security taxes and Medicare taxes, which just keep adding to the money the filer has to pay and the costs that it takes to have an individual calculate everything to get to the gross income.

One may ask how do we get rid of the headaches while still maintaining the income level for the United States government? One idea is establishing a flat tax rate for everyone. A flat tax is an income tax rate that everyone pays the same tax percentage across the board. With our current system, the tax rates are applied to different individuals and corporations to a certain degree. With high marginal tax rates and other excess taxes, it discourages working and productivity. It becomes a struggle for workers knowing that they can get taxed for this, this and this and they become disgruntled and unproductive. With a flat tax rate, workers know that