One For Me, Nineteen For You

Written by Thomas Hutchinson | 01 January 2008

One For Me, Nineteen For You
Why a flatter tax can benefit everyone
Thomas Hutchinson

“Our forefathers made one mistake. What they should have fought for was representation without taxation.” -Fletcher Knebel

If only. While Mr. Knebel harbors grand illusions of non-taxation, we all still inevitably face the taxman that George Harrison so creatively sung about. Seeing that all of us are equally faced with that uncomfortable reality, I believe that the burden should be placed on all of us as equally as possible. With this goal, and to increase economic efficiency, America's progressive tax should be progressively eliminated.

There are those out there who would let their own jealousy get in the way of helping America find a better tax solution. They claim that a flatter tax would unfairly favor the rich. It’s no fair rich will get the tax breaks while the poor will have to pay more, so the flat tax antagonist says.

But the argument is nonsensical. A flat tax means everyone gets taxed at the same rate. The amount paid, of course, rises as one makes more, but the percentage taken always remains the same. In a country where equality and fairness is supposed to be valued above all else, I can see no reason why anyone should argue with equal taxation. There should be no punishment for those who earn more, simply because they earn more.

If anything, the wealthy should be granted more spending power in order that they will then buy more. Where do you think the upper class would spend its new tax rebates? A nicer yacht or sports car, most likely. However, they also spend more money on the products and services offered by the middle to lower classes, giving those classes more money to spend in turn.

The saying, ‘you have to spend money to make money’ has a perfect application in tax policy. A flat tax encourages this money-making; after all, salaries and profits are always both simply someone else’s spending.

Eliminating the progressive tax spurs spending and lowers class barriers, thus merging the class divisions and creating a self-sustaining economic growth model. Can you imagine how powerful our economy would be with such open spending? It gives me shivers just thinking about it.

Another reason to eliminate the progressive tax would be to eliminate the millions of dollars wasted on tax evasion every year. Everyone, including the IRS, knows that high taxes make the upper class always looking for ways around the system, and that they spend vast sums of money trying to keep it from the taxman. With a flat tax rate, many of those citizens would simply pay the government and forego the excessive hassle of avoiding Ben Franklin’s second certainty of life.

In short, the progressive tax is perfect if the government likes to lose out on tax revenue, inhibit the growth of the middle to lower class, and generally slow down the spending power of America’s economy. If the government would like to try and move forward to say, the future, maybe its time to abandon the outdated style of taxation and embrace the intelligent alternative. Anyone interested in more money?