Except that the poor pay Social Security tax, which is the most
regressive tax I can think of in any country today. It kicks in from
the first dollar you earn; the rate is fairly high (around 16%--yes, I
know that nominally half is paid by the employee and half by the
employer, but in reality it all comes out of the worker's wage); and
the tax only applies to the first $70-$80K of a person's earnings,
after that the rate goes to 0 (I am not sure about the limit these
days, it was around $65K when I last worked in the US in 1994).
As for a flat tax, a few of the ex-Communist countries in Central/
Eastern Europe have it. If properly designed (i.e. no exemptions,
deductions etc.) than it can in the end be more progressive than the
current progressive systems in place in Western Europe and North
America, since these are so complex that the rich manage to avoid
taxes by having creative accountants in their employ. Remember Leona
Helmsley: "Only little people pay taxes!"
Nathan
Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.nathanfoto.com
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Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog
On Oct 25, 2008, at 3:37 AM, Chris Crawford wrote:
>
> What's wrong is that it gives an enormous tax break to the wealthy
> and a tax
> increase on the poor. In the USA, the poor pay no income tax. And they
> shouldn't, they're already making in many cases half the actual cost
> of
> living because more than half the jobs here pay less than $8 an
> hour, while
> the actual income needed to live just as an individual with no wife
> or kids
> is about $12 an hour here in Indiana (assuming full-time work) and
> in many
> parts of the country the cost of living is FAR more due to outrageous
> housing costs.
>
>
> --
> Chris Crawford
> Photography & Graphic Design
> Fort Wayne, Indiana
>
> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio
>
> http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com My latest work!
>
> http://www.plumpatrin.com Something the world NEEDS.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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