Let's say we combine income and capital gains... [View all]

[cthulu2016]

Last edited Wed May 23, 2012, 03:00 PM - Edit history (1)

On seeing the replies here, I guess this was read as a policy proposal (which would be ridiculous in literal terms) rather than a question about what potential level of tax-free income was implicit into the system... how far up the burden would have to be shifted to offer a very comfortable tax-free living.

Geez louise... of course flat tax rates at any level are moronic. And nobody would want to implement a sharp (0 to 50) level at any point, for obvious reasons. I consider such things so freaking obvious that nobody could think they were being discussed as policy, but I suppose not.

(In fairness to the commenters, the OP is not well written, and I suppose I have seen flat-tax gibberish on DU but I tend to skip over it.)
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Let's say we combine income and capital gains...

and let's say we take the number of how much tax we collect on those two things...

Let's call that total revenue X.

Okay, imagine zero taxation up until a point Y, and then a flat 50% over that point so that total revenue still equals X.

What would Y be? $30K/year? $80K/year? $150K/year?

Say it was $80K/year (I have no idea what it is) and we said, "The first $80,000 you earn is tax free. After that it's 50%."

It sounds pretty fair. Eliminate federal taxation of the great majority of the nation. You can make enough to live pretty darn comfortably without paying a penny of federal tax. What's not to like?

Oh, right... it would piss off people who make a billion dollars. I forgot about them.

Nevermind.