[fabsroman]

I'll agree with that, but a flat tax is worse for the poor, and not necessarily good for business. With the flat tax, do we get rid of all the tax breaks like section 179 write offs of equipment for business or do we get rid of the writing off of business equipment completely? Do we get rid of the child tax credits? What about itemized deductions like mortgage interest, charitable contributions, medical expenses, unreimbursed employee expenses, real estate taxes, state income taxes, etc.

Most of the cheating I see is done on the schedule C or business returns. Most people with W2's done have much room to cheat except for charitable contributions and maybe some unreimbursed employee expenses. Since you own your own business TD, exactly how would this flat tax work? Would you still be able to deduct all your business expenses? If so, do you really think you could prepare your own return without a tax preparer. Or, are you suggesting that the flat tax be on gross income, and that it not take into account any business expenses? If so, it would seem to me that it would be much better to be a W2 employee.

See, people always have some great solution, but it isn't always that simple. People are always willing to throw out a flat tax or a sales tax in lieu of an income tax because they think it will be that much simpler, but it isn't.

I'll be the first to admit that the current tax code is insane. Sometimes, I get a headache reading this stuff myself and think how can the lay person actually understand any of this. Yep, it needs some reduction, but the question is where and how.