Flat Tax Issue Essay, Research Paper

The article on the Flat Tax system was actually one that I could relate to in

terms of personal taxes. I have heard of this ?new? system over the last

five or six years, but I still have yet to see any type of action for

implementation with this system. Before becoming ?enlightened? about the new

system through this article, I believed that the Flat Tax needed to be adopted

by our government and adopted immediately. The thought of only paying fifteen

percent to taxes is something that I relished. I always thought that a straight

fifteen percent tax across the board would be fair and adequate for our system.

I never truly understood the consequences the flat tax made upon the debt. This,

again, was all before reading the article in depth. I appreciated the fact that

the author presented numerous facts and examples when he spoke of the advantages

and disadvantages of the flat tax. Some of these disadvantages I would never

have known if not for this article. Most of us hear of a new tax system and

without knowing the details, we want to jump into the new system believing that

it will help all of us save some of our income. Obviously, by employing this

system, it will save us some income but in the end, we will be paying higher

taxes for other essentials. Taxes will be paid by the consumer either on payroll

or through the purchases of durable and non-durable goods. There is no way

around it. One way or the other we are paying the taxes to support our country.

The other astounding fact that I received from the article was that the fifteen-

percent would not even come close to supporting our country. In fact, the

country would be losing billions overall. In order to support the country, the

flat tax would have to increase almost up to twenty-seven percent! Most people

would probably not agree with this data. When I traveled to Ireland last winter,

I noticed that when I purchased something a VAT tax was imposed. I thought to

myself, I could never live here and pay this additional tax on my purchases.

Little did I know that this VAT tax was part of a flat tax system. I understand

how the VAT tax helps keep the debt from rising out of control, but there must

be others ways of controlling this. I have also visited other countries that

have the same type of flat tax system and they also have other means of

reclaiming the taxes lost in the flat tax. Canada, for example, has their people

pay a large tax on their purchases and for entertainment, such as dining. In the

long run, a flat tax looks like a system that all taxpayers would want. However,

most of these taxpayers will be in the same situation that I was in, not enough

education on the process. This places us at the disadvantage and helps us make

decisions based on false presumptions. I believe that the tax system needs to be

corrected and simplified, but this new and simplified system needs to be

equitable for all. How can this be done? This is something that needs to

answered by the experts and promoted by us.