preview

The Issue Of Taxes Has Become A Popular Subject Of Mainstream Media

Good Essays

The topic of taxes has become a popular subject in mainstream media nowadays, especially with the 2016 presidential elections looming near. Many candidates have made tax reform part of their platform in debates due to the increase in our national debt, staled or minimalistic increases in employment opportunities, wage increases, and the effect our current tax structure is having on companies to provide these opportunities. Some have stressed that implementing a flat tax will have the most successful impact in increasing tax revenues as well as opening new doors of opportunities for small employers, and for those in the current job market. Our current tax system is a progressive tax structure. This system implements a higher tax rate to …show more content…

It started off as a flat rate that quickly expanded to include additional rate schedules during the war. It expired in 1872 due to the end of the war, and a decrease in need for additional war funding. The wealthy argued that it was a “wartime measure”, and “not an experiment in public finance” (Thorndike and Ventry, p. 29).
Late in 1894, the second income tax quickly came, and went with the Supreme Court declaring it unconstitutional. This was then followed by the submission of the 16th amendment in 1909 after many “middle-class and professional propertied Americans resented their rising tax burdens while wealthy individuals escaped paying their fair share” (Thorndike and Ventry, p. 31). The amendment became law in 1913, and has slowly evolved into the system we have in place today. This current system is often criticized for being a discriminatory structure that penalizes those who earn more and rewards those that do not strive for more. It is often speculated that a flat tax system would be a fairer system overall. A flat tax is a tax rate that is imposed on all taxpayers regardless of their income. It is also thought to be the ideal incentive for taxpayers to pursue higher income positions or higher paying jobs, under the pretense that they will not fall into a higher tax rate in the current bracket system. Under a flat tax structure they will be taxed at the same rate weather they earn $35,000 or $350,000. A flat tax rate system would be the

Get Access