 Herman’s 9-9-9, with a twist
Do you remember Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 proposal? As a Republican candidate for President,
Herman created shock waves last year when he proposed that America
eliminate the existing tax code and replace it with a 9% tax on personal
income, a 9% business tax and a 9% national sales tax.
Forget about
the 9’s for a moment – they can be tweaked. But wouldn’t it make things
easier for everyone to understand if we had a system like this in place? After all, the knock
on the Democrats is ‘all they do is tax and spend’. The Republicans on
the other hand want to ‘take your money and give loopholes’ to the rich.
An argument against the flat tax is that the poor would pay more taxes. This is
true. Those making $100 may not be paying today, but would pay $9 under
Herman’s plan. So let’s make a slight enhancement. Raise the standard
deduction – to perhaps 9K. Herman’s plan now becomes 9-9-9-9, but the
code is simplified, the system is easier to navigate and the
accountability becomes more transparent. After all, tax increases would
be much harder to hide. The taxpayers would only have to monitor 4
numbers.
The 2012 IRS tax code was 73,608 pages long. We could fit Herman’s on a post-it.
Maybe it’s time to take a closer look.
Mark Schuster, Partner
January 27, 2013
BACK
|
