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by DataDive 826 days ago
Why would you want a flat tax rate if some of the money you made is not taxable? How is it not worth it if it saves you a thousand dollars?

An efficient economic system is inherently complicated. It should support people who take chances, people who start businesses, and people who innovate. At the same time, the system has to protect itself from people who want to exploit the benefits afforded to people who add value.

Unsuprisingly these constraints will inherently complicate the process.

All these armchair accountants believing they could devise a better tax system shows their ignorance rather than their expertise.

Do you want to see bureaucracy and inefficiency? Go start a business in Germany and compare it to starting a business in the USA.

I think doing taxes in the US can be an enlightening process. It has many benefits, it shows you how much you made, where the taxes go, and that recognition makes politicians less eager to nilly-willy raise taxes.

And with that it does keep your taxes lower, there is no doubt about that.

You spend a few hours and around 50 bucks each year but in return you save thousands. It is a much better deal than the alternative.

1 comments

> Why would you want a flat tax rate if some of the money you made is not taxable?

The flat tax rate would be much less, of course. Instead of taxing me 50% and a bunch of deductions, tax me a flat 25%. I'll take the deal, and the IRS gets to not have to read five hundred pages of crypto transactions.

Is 25% fair? Why 25%? If you’re a business who spent most of its profits paying others who in turn paid taxes on that, should you pay that much?

What part of your revenue is taxable? Can you defer some of that revenue? Is it revenue?

Are flat taxes fair to all levels of society? Does a billionaire paying 25% hurt just as much as a single mother working minimum wage (the consensus for the longest time has been no, and why we have progressive tax brackets).

I can go on. Current status quo is not great, but it’s the best bad option we have, IMO