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This is really an impossible discussion to hold under the current tax codes. Fact is, we don't have the faintest clue how much we are paying in taxes. Okay, you can look at your income tax return for starters (I'll keep this Federal for simplicity). But what about payroll taxes? What about corporate income taxes? Don't believe for a second that these don't ultimately come out of the pockets of individuals.
I am strongly in favor of a simple, progressive income tax as the sole primary revenue source for Federal treasury. No corporate payroll, inventory or profit taxes. No sales tax. No special categories of income. It would not be a true flat tax, it would have thresholds.
A note on thresholds; unlike what Ustwo alluded to earlier about thresholds punishing people for increased earnings, thresholds would not result in lowering your post-tax income because you slightly surpassed a threshold. Indeed they would work as now, in that only income in excess of the threshold would be taxed at the higher rate. If the first threshold is 3% up to $25,000, then even a multi-billionaire would only pay 3% on their first $25,000 of income. If it goes to 10% up to $50,000, getting a raise from $24,900 to $25,100 wouldn't subject your entire $25,100 to the higher 10% rate, but only $100 of it. It's actually pretty simple.
I don't want to propose rates, but instead I think rates are something that should be determined by way of a national debate. That debate can't really happen until we have an honest taxation system where the rates are real and actually mean something.
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