Current US Tax System

The current tax code for the United States is almost 74,000 pages long. Or to put that into a different light: About 116 copies of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. It is small wonder that a few of the announced candidates for President of the United States, have again begun to kick the tires on the topic of a Flat Tax. But is a flat tax actually a solution to our country’s growing tax complexity? What are the potential economic effects of a flat tax (both positive and negative)? Finally, is a flat tax even a viable solution? In short, will it work? As a concept, a flat tax is spectacular. Simplicity at its finest. As a fiscal policy, I believe that same simplicity must be examined and inspected closely.

Fiscal policy involves the use of government altering the levels of spending, taxation and borrowing to influence the pattern of economic activity and affect the level of growth of aggregate demand, output and employment. The main goal of fiscal policy is to stimulate economic growth, keep inflation low (target of 2%) and to stabilise economic growth. There are two types of fiscal policy. Expansionary is linked to increases in government spending to boost economic activity and contractionary which is linked to decreasing government spending to lower economic activity.

This policy involves increasing government spending and cutting taxes, in order to spur economic output. But if the government decides they need to do the opposite the government may adopt concretionary fiscal policy. This involves a reduction in government spending and an increase in taxes when faced with an overheating economy. But these actions, may have other effects in the economy. For instance, and expansionary fiscal policy may lead to the crowding out of investment.

The government has two tools of expansionary fiscal policy which are expansionary and contractionary. The difference in the two tools is that by taking the expansionary route the government is opting to stimulate the economy. Expansionary is most often the path taken during times of high unemployment or during a recession. The government cuts taxes, rebates as well as government spending. Lastly, another option the government may choose to take is called the contractionary fiscal policy this means that the government decides to decrease the amount of money such as increasing taxes and reduce the amount of money the government is spending.

A recent national survey conducted by the Pew Research Center on April 7, 2013 found that 56% of Americans have a negative reaction towards income taxes. For this reason, most presidential candidates of both the Republican and Democratic Party, such as Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, maintain a fixed position on the way they think the current tax code should change. With all the issues and criticism the current American tax code faces there is an ongoing debated on how it should be dealt with. This Paper will explore all four, of the previously stated candidates’ tax plans

The last major overhaul of the U.S tax code took place over twenty-eight years ago as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. President Ronald Regan’s Treasury Department proposed a tax-neutral reform with the definitive duty of simplifying the overall code. However, the absence of any reform since then greatly reflects the United States current condition, in that “The United States provides a good example of an uncompetitive tax code” (Pomerleau & Lundeen, 2014). The following will examine the main components of the tax code that make a nations taxing system competitive. It will then identify two parts of the code, that when combined create a disadvantageous environment for any American business who competes internationally.

Taxes play a huge party in the United States of America. Taxes are peoples and entities contribution to society to pay for all the things society provides us with. Money moves from consumers to business when people buy goods and services. When the economy is increasing and growing consumers earn more and make more purchases. Through all the purchases the government collects sales tax. The government collects money from the market purchases but provides goods and services. “The tax budget is divided into both mandatory and discretionary spending, depending on how it is allocated each year”(Reference/Government). The first time the government initiated tax was for the civil war in the 1860’s but then it was repealed in 1872. In 1913 Congress

Fiscal policy is used by the federal government to direct the economy. Fiscal policy can affect borrowing and the size of an organization’s tax bill. The amount of spending that the government makes directly affects the economy. The spending can also enhance growth within the economy by increasing funds available for organizations to fund capital expenditures.

EThe Federal tax code of the United States mandates that every U.S. citizen receiving income who meets a minimum income threshold is required to complete and file a federal income tax return prepared in accordance with a complex set of Federal codes (Internal Revenue Service [IRS], 1974; Publication 17 [Pub.17], 2015). This tax preparation model relies upon the principal-agent theory to ensure taxpayer participation. In this system, the government, as the principal, requires the taxpayer, as the agent, to voluntarily submit a compliant return. Accordingly, anyone acting on behalf of the taxpayer becomes the taxpayer’s agent.

To most, the term federal income tax is just paying the government or money they don’t get. But in government and the world of finance, it is major and involved idea which involves a great deal of focus and discussion. The United States’ federal income tax is a complex system which is a necessary function of the government. A taxable amount is determined on income, and it creates taxation for the government to accumulate money. There are many factors that play into the complexity of the system which developed the processes of the federal income tax today. Understanding this financial system requires a level of insight into the layers of information that the federal income tax entails.

The tax system of the United States is as complicated as it gets. It is a system that has enough loopholes in which it benefits the wealthy over the less fortunate. The wealthiest people are especially aware of these loopholes so they take advantage of it and determine ways of cheating the system, instead of trying to make it fair for all different types of classes. With these tools to cheat the system, the middle-class and lower-class are more harshly penalized and hounded for their taxes than the wealthy - who get away with a lot more. All of this information and more is discussed in David Cay Johnston’s book Perfectly Legal. Johnston discusses how cheated the tax system really is and how just the lack of political backup can really cause

At the core, taxes are the mechanism by which a government is funded. Taxes pay for public education, public transportation, law enforcement, and to build public roads.

Another advantage of discretionary fiscal policy is the expansionary component. Expansionary fiscal policy allows for the government to expand the money supply in the economy, rather it be to increase spending or cut taxes. When spending is increased, jobs are created. This happens through public work programs or indirectly through contractors. Through job creation, more money is spent, which causes a boost in demand and through that economic growth is possible. When the government cuts taxes and provides tax reliefs, more money is put directly into the pockets of business which stimulates greater business growth and competition. An example of this can be seen through the U.S. government's policy to cut taxes and give tax reliefs to household

The United States tax system is in complete disarray. Republicans and Democrats agree that the current tax code is complex, unfair, and costly. The income tax system is so complex; the IRS publishes 480 tax forms and 280 forms to explain the 480 forms (Armey 1). The main reason the tax system is so complex is because of the special preferences such as deductions and tax credits. Complexity in the current tax system forces Americans to spend 5.4 billion hours complying with the tax code, which is more time than it takes to manufacture every car, truck and van produced in the United States (Armey 1). Time is not the only thing that is lost with the current tax system; Americans also lose

Expansionary fiscal policy consists of change in government expenditures, or taxes, in order in influence the level of economic activity, inflation, and economic growth (Amacher & Pate, 2012). Expansionary fiscal policy is when taxes are cut and government spending is increased. Lower taxes will increase disposable income. The increase in disposable income will lead to higher levels of consumer spending. In theory the more money that consumers spend, the higher the chance for economic growth. Tax cuts will also lead to an increase in aggregate demand. Aggregate demand is the total demand for goods and services is the economy. As stated earlier, a tax cut will increase people’s disposable income therefore increasing the amount of money available for consumption. The increase in consumption would increase the demand for goods and services. This in turn increases GDP (gross domestic product). GDP is the value of the total output that the economy produces in a given time period