Flat Tax, National Sales Tax, or Simply a Fair System of Taxation?

Flat Tax, National Sales Tax, or simply a Fair System of Taxation, what do you think?

2652 pages in two books. This is what you would have to read to understand our nation’s income tax code. Most of it details the deductions and exemptions used by the wealthy to prevent them from paying their fair share of taxes.

President Biden is proposing a minimum tax for our largest wage earners, but that’s not the answer. Corporations continue to avoid paying their fair share and will until the corporate tax rate is raised.

Over several decades sensible proposals have been offered simplify our tax code and ensure that everyone contributes their fair share to our nation’s economy.

A flat tax rate would require all Americans to pay the same percentage. There would be no deductions. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

Another suggestion is a national sales tax which would eliminate the IRS as it exists today. Only food and one or two other necessities would be tax free. Everything else would be subject to a rate to be determined by congress. The more you buy, the more sales tax you pay.

Both were rejected by congress. Profits of the wealthy and corporations remained the priority.

Here are some tax percentages paid by large corporations in 2021.

AT&T Inc.−4.1%

Dow Inc.−3.1

American International Group Inc.−2.2

Charter Communications Inc. –0.2

General Motors Co. 0.2

Ford Motor Co. 1.0

MetLife Inc. 1.3

Chevron Corp. 1.8

ExxonMobil 2.8

Bank of America 3.5

Your weekly payroll taxes are five-times higher than those paid by Bank of America, the highest percentage of these ten corporations. Do you think this is fair? Now, do you understand why our national debt will soon reach 30 trillion dollars: $30,000,000,000,000.

“The truth lives here,” and I would like you to consider just a few of the other situations which could be changed if America’s government simply did the right thing.

Our government wastes more money than a drunken sailor on leave. One allocation approved by congress is the annual budget for the Pentagon. It is nearly 800 billion dollars each year. Watchdog groups claim that 50 cents of every dollar given to our military is wasted. The Pentagon’s annual budget is five-times larger than that of all other nations combined. This is preparing for war, not for peace, and a complete waste of hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

If our government would do the right thing, there would be limits on campaign spending for all candidates. The base salary for our 535 members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year. The average campaign costs 10 times that amount.

Most Americans are not aware that attached to every bill before congress are issues related to an individual politician’s district or state. This is campaigning at the expense of the American taxpayer, and adds unnecessary costs to a bill which is often critical.

Finally, many of our largest corporations continue to receive tax incentives they do not need or deserve. These include Chevron and Exxon.

Our system of taxation is ludicrous and favors the wealthy.

Think about this fact: the opposite ends of our nation’s taxpayers pay little or no taxes. At one end is the super-rich, and on the other end very low-income Americans and families living below the poverty line.

Op-ed by James Turnage

Sources:

AXIOS: These companies paid little to no taxes last year; by Emily Peck
The College Investor: What Is The Fair Tax? How It Would Work And Its Pros And Cons

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Pictures of Money’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of 401(K) 2012’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License