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Flat Tax

• Taipei Tax Cut

  [Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2008] Asia's export-dependent economies are especially vulnerable to slowing world growth. That doesn't mean governments have to stand by helplessly. Witness Taipei, which is proposing capital-inviting tax cuts.

• On Death and Taxes ... and the Candidates

  [Wall Street Journal, Coctober 15,2008] Although taxes have become a major political battleground in the presidential campaign, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain agree on a couple of estate-tax issues that could benefit many people and their heirs.

• Sofia Goes Flat

  [The Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2008] A country that ten years ago had a 12% unemployment rate now has a 6% jobless rate. Instead of people leaving Bulgaria to find jobs, "now it is the reverse. Western Europeans now come to Bulgaria for jobs.

• That flat tax? It's already here

  [The Dallas Morning News, May 29, 2008] We already have a flat tax. It just has bumps and potholes. (See the Laurence J. Kotlikoff and David S. Rapson study: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st310/ )

• Saving Time and Money

  [American Enterprise Institute, April 15, 2008] [A] single rate tax structure would eliminate taxes on savings, capital gains, and dividends. Saving would increase and businesses would expand to create new jobs. By reducing dramatically the world's second-highest corporate income tax rate means that U.S. companies would have less incentive to move their jobs abroad. And here is where the all-American principle of freedom comes into the prescription: opting for a one rate, one page tax plan would be entirely left up to the individual or business to decide, not Uncle Sam.

• Russia's Flat Tax

  [Healthcare Economist, January 18, 2008] In 2001, Russia enacted a flat tax rate of 13 percent; a reform so popular it has since been adopted by countries such as Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Slovakia and Macedonia.

• Flat Tax Fred

  [Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2007] Fred Thompson's recently unveiled tax reform plan is more ambitious than anything we've seen so far from the rest of the GOP field, says the Wall Street Journal.

• The Mother Of All Tax Hikes

  [Wall Street Journal, October 30, 2007] Both Republicans and Democrats agree that the exploding Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is bad news for taxpayers and the economy.

• How To Fix the Alternative Minimum Tax

  [NCPA Brief Analysis #588, July 16, 2007] Although a "flat tax," such as an income tax that imposes the same rate at all income levels, is desirable, the odds that such a flat rate will ever be implemented are small.

• Don't Abolish the AMT

  [Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2007] The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) should not be abolish, but should be reformed in to a taxpayer-friendly, flat tax that encourages economic growth.

• Flat Czechs

  [Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2007] Still untested in the West, the flat tax has now become the norm in Eastern Europe.

• Flat Tax Already a Reality

  [Dallas Morning News, January 28, 2007] Including state income taxes, sales taxes and the offsetting benefits of major government programs, our all-in marginal tax rate is pushing 40 percent, and this translates to a bumpy flat tax.

• Paying Taxes: The Global Picture

  [PriceWaterhouseCoopers, The World Bank, November 2006] According to a survey on tax regimes around the world, effectiveness of tax systems and transparency is a necessity.

• Tax Advice From Skopje

  [NCPA, November 16, 2006] The world just got a little flatter as Macedonia's new conservative government plans to scrap the 15 percent corporate tax rate and 15 percent to 24 percent personal income taxes and replace them with a single 12 percent rate. If only such clear economic thinking were also commonplace in the newly elected U.S. Congress.

• The Alternative Minimum Tax Threatens Middle-Income Families

  [NCPA Brief Analysis #571, September 11, 2006] If the The Alternative Minimum were repealed this year, by 2010, over 9,000 high-income filers would pay zero income tax, due to exemptions. One solution is to replace the bloated, complex income tax system with a flat tax.

• Goodbye, Taxachusetts

  [Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2006] Two of the three Democratic candidates for Massachusetts governor have endorsed cutting the state flat-rate income tax, an unlikely scenario in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans five to one, says the Wall Street Journal.

• Rhode Island Enacts Pro-Taxpayer Reform Package

  [Heartland Institute, August 2006] Rhode Islanders now have an optional flat-rate income tax, tighter caps on property taxes, the eventual elimination of an automobile excise tax, lower capital gains taxes, and controls on growth in education spending.

• Anniversary of a Tax Disaster

  [Yankee Institute, August 2006] A new paper released by the Yankee Institute documents the negative consequences of the broad-based income tax passed by Connecticut legislators and signed into law in 1991.

• Flat Chance? Tax concept is again making the rounds

  [Heritage Foundation, August 10, 2006] Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wants to craft a legacy by overhauling the federal tax code. And he claims he's willing to battle every special interest in Washington to do it.

• A Code That Should Be Broken

  [Investor's Business Daily, August 2, 2006] To attempt to curb tax avoidance and cheating, a entirely new tax code that is so straightforward that it can be neither misunderstood nor mangled is needed.

• Dog the Swag

  [Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2006] A flat tax could change congressional spending habits, says Pete du Pont, chairman of the NCPA.

• Tax Reform: Thinking Outside the Box

  [NCPA Study #275, September 29, 2005] This NCPA study shows how the current system could be replaced by a flat-rate income tax, or a flat-rate tax on personal consumption.

• The Flat Tax: Improving on a Good Idea

  [NCPA Brief Analysis #537, November 1, 2005] The flat tax rate should be lowered to 14 percent as opposed to 17 percent since a lower-rate flat tax would help the economy. Moreover, a rebate to the poor would enhance progressivity.

• The Deduction for State and Local Taxes Undermines Tax Reform and Subsidize

  [Heritage Foundation, July 25, 2005] Tax reforms such as the flat tax could boost eco­nomic growth and reduce political corruption, but some oppose reform or view proposals like the flat tax as unrealistic because interest groups oppose the elimination of special tax breaks.

• A Brief Guide to the Flat Tax

  [Heritage Foundation, July 7, 2005] The current income tax system punishes the economy; a flat tax would reduce the federal government’s power over the lives of taxpayers.

• The Flat Tax: How to Fix It

  [University of West Georgia, 2002] Ben Branch, Professor of Finance at the University of Massachusetts, proposes a combined 25 percent flat tax to replace the income tax and Social Security payroll tax.

• A Kinder, Gentler Flat Tax

  [Forbes, September 29, 2005] NCPA President John C. Goodman outlines a 14 percent flat tax in the October edition of Forbes magazine.

• Shift Toward Flat Tax Continues

  [Heritage Foundation, October 28, 2004] The recently enacted corporate tax bill has attracted a lot of criticism, but the legislation actually is rather impressive considering the political obstacles.

• Flat, Fair and Forever

  [Heritage Foundation, January 22, 2004] Every profession has its unofficial list-of-things-you-don’t-say, and politics is no exception. A leading entry: never call for a tax hike.