Nothing Flat in the Income Tax

There is a ground swell effort to reform, once again, the tax code. While growing support exists for completely eliminating the income tax and repealing the 16th Amendment too many prominent politicians and lobbyists are unwilling to allow a national debate on this approach. However popular it is to talk of income tax reform too much control is lost if it is replaced. Too many inside and outside of politics would lose the leverage and power an income tax provides. So what do many say to catch the ear of the citizenry? Often we hear how we should make the income tax a flat tax.

This brief article will not attempt to educate on the many complex reform proposals or adjustments being bantered about. Instead, we will examine the flat tax in its simplest form, an even percentage of tax required on every citizen required to pay taxes. Initially the idea of a flat tax sounds good. Citizens everywhere, convinced we have always had the income tax and always will, believe flattening the tax is a fair way to equal out the burden of funding the government. There is also a sigh of relief the filing of taxes would be easier and less expensive than the current, disastrous complexities faced by most prior to April 15th.

Many prominent politicians and businessmen have proposed various forms of flat tax legislation over the past decade, notably former Majority Leader Dick Armey and publishing mogul and former Presidential Candidate Steve Forbes. Examining their proposals shows inherent advantages to the richest citizens by formulating definitions of earned income, to be taxed at a flat percentage rate, and unearned income, such as capital gains, interest and dividends. Without delving deeply into the proposals this is far enough to begin to realize the problem with a flat income tax is it still is an income tax and can still be easily manipulated to the advantages of some and resulting heavier burdens to others.

There is nothing flat in the income tax which is why Hamilton wrote against it in Federalist No. 10 and why, for the first 124 years of our existence as a nation, it was unconstitutional. In 1895 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the unconstitutional nature of income taxation in the landmark decision handed down in the Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Company case. Due to this ruling the ‘soak the rich’ campaign began in earnest which finally culminated in the 1913 ratification of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution.

Many will be surprised to learn the original income tax affected only those few citizens earning in excess of $4,000 per year (a large sum then), could be filed on a single form, had a tax code of only 14 pages, was considered simple, and would grow for 94 years into the menace we face today. With over 45,000 pages and countless forms it has become a root cause of problems facing the average citizen today yet we are too busy to realize the burden. The problem is not whether the income tax is flat or graduated or who is exempt or...or...or. The problem is it is an income tax and needs to be sent back to the unconstitutional status the founding fathers wisely gave it.

There are many options, this author happens to favor The Fair Tax Act but study and support any plan you care to as long as it ends income taxation, kills the IRS and repeals the terrible beast known as the 16th Amendment. Remember there is nothing, ever, flat about an income tax!

Also, choose a candidate that supports ending the income tax, not one who wants to dance with the devil and woo you into believing flattening the income tax will work just fine and fair. To do this you must be bold as the major media candidates love their income taxing powers. There are several candidates this year who support an end to the IRS. Here is a link to their sites;

• Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX)
• Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AL)
• Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO)

Visit Hear My Thunder Community