Tax Foundation Report on Nonpayers
MO Rage completely misunderstands this Tax Foundation report (link via Kansas City Prime Buzz). The report notes the rising percentage of tax filers who don’t owe any income tax, then states (emphasis mine):
A record had been set every year since 2002, as tax cuts throughout the Bush years, especially the refundable child tax credit, pushed low-to-middle income people off the tax rolls.
Here’s MO Rage’s reaction:
Shouldn’t we ALL pay at least something on our taxes, so we can keep our infrastructure and schools–everything–running?
[...]
But no, we let corporations and wealthy people, mostly, pay for tax breaks–mostly by buying their Senators–and then jockeying up the books.
MO Rage suggests we institute a minimum tax that everyone has to pay.
I don’t know how you can read a report about fewer low- to middle-income people paying taxes and conclude that the wealthy are to blame. And I wouldn’t support a tax that everyone — including homeless people earning $500 a year — has to pay. A code that doesn’t tax some people or that gives them a credit can be more efficient than other anti-poverty policies, as this op-ed about minimum wage laws explains.
While not particularly well-written, it sounds to me like the blogger is advocating a 10%, across-the-board flat tax. I think it’s fair to note the potential disproportionate impact that such a tax scheme might have on low-income people, and I agree that it would be worth at least discussing an exemption that would account for the struggles of impoverished people. But the core of the blogger’s idea is about making sure all citizens share an equal income tax burden – that, as nearly as possible, people should be treated equally under the tax laws. Sounds like a great idea to me!
Comment by Dave Roland — December 9, 2009 @ 12:11 p.m.
The blogger says “minimum.” I don’t see anything in the argument about equality or everyone being treated the same–only that there would be a lower bound. It leaves the possibility of taxing some brackets above the minimum. I don’t read that as a flat tax proposal.
Comment by Sarah Brodsky — December 9, 2009 @ 12:22 p.m.