preview

Essay On Flat Income Tax

Decent Essays

The federal government will not replace the current tax bracket system with a flat income tax.
The idea of a graduated, or progressive, income tax is an idea that originates from Britain. Prime Minister William Pitt implemented the first bracketed tax system in 1798 in order to pay for the French Revolutionary War (parliament.uk).115 years later, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Revenue act of 1913, establishing the first graduatedincome tax in the United States. (history.com) This idea of a graduated income tax makes the income gap smaller, and helps to make sure that every family is paying a fair amount. Low income families pay a lower percentage, and higher income families pay a higher percentage. In 2017, married couples who make $0 …show more content…

Taxes could be set at a specific percentage or a specific dollar amount. This idea seems fair, with everyone paying the same rate, but, in fact, it can be extremely detrimental to low income families. Flat taxes are usually set in the neighborhood of 17 to 20%, meaning that lower income families, let’s say, families making $5,000 a year would pay 1,000 dollars leaving just 4,000 to pay for necessities. On the other hand, wealthy families making 400,000 a year would pay 80,000 dollars, leaving 320,000 dollars for spending, significantly more than low income families. Additionally, this system has not gone unproposed. It has been brought up four times in the last 30 years, the most recent of which in 2011 when several republican candidates embraced the flat tax, including Herman Cain with a 9% set tax, and Rick Perry with a 20%. However, these proposals and others similar to them have yet to gain traction in our government. No form of the flat tax has ever made it past the first stages of formation, which means it is very likely that there will never be a successful plan.
With the flaws in a flat tax system, and the benefits of a graduated income tax, the United States government will not institute a flat income

Get Access