02 May 2007
Flat Tax and the AMT
The argument made by David R. Henderson in the Wall Street Journal of May 2, 2007, for turning the Alternative Minimum Tax in the Federal personal income tax code into a flat income tax system accepts as a given that the income tax would thereby become “more fair”. His prescription would gradually legitimize what is already happening, because inflation is steadily subjecting ever larger numbers of taxpayers to the effectively flat AMT rates.
Instead of correcting for this unintended consequence of the mathematical structure of the AMT, Mr. Henderson would take advantage of it stealthily to vitiate the progressive nature of the federal income tax code. Moreover, he is careful to defend his scheme’s protection of the volume of federal revenues from erosion. His motivation becomes clear when he forecasts a shift in support for federal government programs from lower-income to higher income groups. After all, money has been shown to count more than votes in influencing the spending and policies of Washington.
The argument made by David R. Henderson in the Wall Street Journal of May 2, 2007, for turning the Alternative Minimum Tax in the Federal personal income tax code into a flat income tax system accepts as a given that the income tax would thereby become “more fair”. His prescription would gradually legitimize what is already happening, because inflation is steadily subjecting ever larger numbers of taxpayers to the effectively flat AMT rates.
Instead of correcting for this unintended consequence of the mathematical structure of the AMT, Mr. Henderson would take advantage of it stealthily to vitiate the progressive nature of the federal income tax code. Moreover, he is careful to defend his scheme’s protection of the volume of federal revenues from erosion. His motivation becomes clear when he forecasts a shift in support for federal government programs from lower-income to higher income groups. After all, money has been shown to count more than votes in influencing the spending and policies of Washington.
Comments:
Post a Comment
