WASHINGTON, D.C. April 22 (DPI) – Centrist economist Robert Samuelson pointedly asserted that reforming America’s byzantine tax code is almost impossible, given political influences of all kinds over the policy-making process, all of which are unlikely to ever go away. “The odds that the next president — whoever it is — will engineer genuine tax simplification are negligible,” Samuelson wrote.
Samuelson reiterated now-familiar calls for simplification that included fewer loopholes and exemptions, allowing for a broader tax base and lower marginal rates. He listed a variety of familiar tax exceptions, from the mortgage interest deduction to the exclusion from taxable income of employer-paid health insurance, to the deductibility of state and local taxes, among others.
But many readers on The Washington Post’s site who commented on Samuelson’s April 17 column were hardly supportive of such an obviously constructive suggestion of reform.
Some readers agreed that capital-gains rates should be aligned with rates on ordinary income. Among the most popular comments:
Taxing unearned income, (dividends, interest, capital gains, etc) at the same rate as earned income, (wages), would go a very long way toward solving the inequalities in the tax code. However as we all know, the “Golden Rule” prevails. And what is the “Golden Rule?” Those with the Gold make the rules!!!
Yet a surprising number railed that tax rates should actually be higher, especially on the wealthy. Many pointed out that marginal rates were higher in the 50s and 60s, and European countries have much higher tax rates. A popular comment:
For the record, the overall tax burden in the US is the third lowest among industrialized nations. Only Chile and Mexico is lower.
That comment of course spurred an exchange on the total tax rate – federal, state and local – and how burdened US taxpayers are overall.
Tax simplification would help spur genuine economic growth, but more important it would also restore people’s faith and confidence in fair taxation, many economists say.