Be careful what you wish for. The issue is not whether to get rid of the IRS, but rather the IRS versus alternatives. Unless the debate is framed as IRS vs. alternatives, with the alternatives specified, it won't go anywhere. So forget the shutting down of the IRS and start thinking of better alternatives. This is one of the reasons Rand Paul is not going anywhere, i.e., he's pandering to the simple minded who don't understand that the IRS administrates; Congress and Treasury make the rules. The simple minded do not control this country. If Paul spent his time proposing better, i.e., realistic and workable, alternatives he could be taken seriously. I don't know much about Cruz. He is supposed to be good looking, so he ought to be getting lots of free media time.
1. True. Any significant change in the tax mechanism will hose somebody. 2. Nothing should be exempted from the flat tax.... with allowances for certain foods, utilities, clothing. Seems it would be relatively simple to implement.
A flat tax has great appeal to the wealthy for obvious reasons, but those who propose it usually leave out mention of whether unearned income is to be included, or taxed at a different rate, as it is now !!! I can't take flat tax proposals seriously unless they also address the latter issue. It also has tremendous appeal to anyone with complex tax returns, i.e., many traders!, whether wealthy or not. Before I could support it, I would have to be convinced that a flat tax that brought unearned income under the same umbrella, I wouldn't consider it at all otherwise, wouldn't exacerbate the income distribution problem. A federal consumption tax, on top of state and local taxes, would prevent an underground cash economy of a trillion dollars, or more!, escaping federal tax. Because I strongly favor leaving at least some capital with the lower middle class, I would want it to have a progressive structure. i.e., exempting certain items, or only taxing them above a cap. The arguments against alternative ways of taxing will always include predictions that alternatives will be piled on top of the taxes we have now, and therefore alternatives are dangerous. This is another version of the kind of arguments that come from those who favor indiscriminately starving the federal government. Their reasoning runs along the lines of: 'so what if we kill the NIH, just so long as we eliminate the department of education it will be worth it'. I can't buy into this kind of thinking. It is of the same ilk that gave as an across the board sequester. That's a very bad way to run a government!
IRS compliance costs are something like 3% GDP, per year. The 74,000 page tax code is a legislative blackhole....nobody knows what's in it. Poll 50 different accounts, get 50 different returns. The tax code is a gigantic hunnypot for politicians to dole out favors (exemptions) in exchange for votes. And the entire compliance industry (lawyers, accountants, judges, prosecutors, enforcement agents) RESIST and FIGHT ANY CHANGE that simplifies the code because those leeches earn their bread and butter off a COMPLEX and archaic code. Not a simple one. The answers are simple - flat tax. One page tax code = everyone pays 15%. No exemptions. Cap gains = 15%. That's it done. The big Government Statists fucked everything up royally. TAXES should be simple, easy and unencombered. The Bible considered anything over 10% tax to be extortion. Today, upper middle class routinely pay >50%, all in. The system is completely fucked.
poor people in America are not protected by some war in Iraq. That is a war for the rich and their multi national corporations. And the rich need a lot of tax money to wage those wars.
There are two interelated problems currently. One is the complexity of the tax code, which creates enormous compliance costs and also opportunities for political favoritism. The bigger problem however is the vast power vested in the IRS to administer the tax code. The more complex the tax system, the more power the IRS has. As we have seen under obama, that power can be used to harass political opponents and anyone else who gets in the way of the administration. Since democrats no longer recognize any limits on what is acceptable in pursuit of their many causes, the lure of misusing the IRS is irresistible. More laws prescribing new rules for the IRS are useless. Someone has to enforce those laws. When you have a Justice Department run by political thugs like Eric Holder and a president like obama, they will simply not enforce them. It would be a big risk but doable to replace the IRS with an alternative system or structure. Those who benefit from the current system, ie democrats, will never go along however. They are not about to give up the power to destroy their opponents or swing elections by censoring opposition groups.
The tax code is the way it is for specific power, control, favors, rewards purposes. You're right. Politicos will not be giving that up.... for reasons of "fairness" or any other. Most likely is that taxes become even more draconian for those who pay the most.
Let me be in charge of the team to take care of the budget and the tax system. I would not even ax the Federal Reserve... I just tell them we won't be needing any more loans... but they can still print as much money as they want as long there is no inflation using the shadow stats analysis. By the time we are done the people will be better off, the military will be better off and there will be no need for an income tax... Plus... when you combine a good tariff system with no income taxes our economy will boom so much govt jobs will go up govt revenue will go up we will have a single payer system that works taken even more of a burden off our manufacturers and business. Instead of the death circle being held off with smoke and mirrors and zirp... will we experience a virtuous economic cycle fueled by an unchained business sector and vast numbers of new people who wish to work harder because the keep all their money. Of course we will be phasing out giveaways for able bodied people and corporations. The only place we might see pain is K street.