ACA Repeal/Replace: Progressives Face Moral Dilemma

[David Horn]

(09-05-2017, 06:11 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(09-05-2017, 04:35 PM)David Horn Wrote:

(09-05-2017, 12:59 PM)Kinser79 Wrote:

(09-05-2017, 10:37 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(09-04-2017, 09:20 AM)Kinser79 Wrote: Well for me I would like to repeal the 16th amendment, but I don't think that's going to happen.  For a compromise I would accept a flat tax, no exemptions, no loopholes, no credits, no other bullshit.  It isn't perfect but it would put the IRS out of a job essentially.

As with Health Care Congress has to do its job so the President can do his.  Over all I would say that the corporate income rate needs to be lowered drastically say closer to 10-15% and loopholes need to be closed.

OK, but how much are you willing to pay?  The Federal budget is roughly 20% of GDP.  A flat tax is simple, until you have to pay.  Cutting the corporate rate makes your part about 25% of everything you earn.  Most people pay far less.  If you are OK with that, then fine.

I doubt you have the maths to say that with any accuracy.  But let us suppose that we set the flat tax at 25% w/o exemptions, loopholes, credits and so on, my tax would be $8750/year.  That is higher than what I paid last year, but a lower corporate rate to be able to compete with the other industrialized countries is worth it.

That said, just from shutting down the IRS the US could save several billion dollars.  I think you'll find that I'm hard pressed on finding federal programs that I don't want cut.  The simple fact is that the federal government does too much, and what it does do it does poorly.

If you only made $35,000, then your tax must have been a lot less than $8,750.  First, you get a personal exemption of $4,050 and the standard deduction for a single filer of $6,300 (any other choices would be more), leaving a taxable income of $24,650.  You pay 10% of the first $9,275 and 15% on the rest, for a total of $3,233 (the IRS rounds down the nearest whole dollar), or 9.24%.  QED

You might want to investigate how payroll taxes work, that fund a large fraction of that federal budget that you talk about.

If he's at 9.24%, and you add another 15.3% for FICA, and that assumes he is self employed, it's still less than 25%.  If he's not self employed, then the figure is 9.1%.  BTW, the 25% flat tax figure may also be low.  I calculated the FairTax at 39%, but that included payouts to taxpayers that the flat tax would not include.  It would, however, impoverish the poorest, almost certainly crash the economy and create chaos.