Trump Should Propose a 15% Single Tax Rate for All

In a recent speech, presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed, among other things, a 15% corporate income tax rate. He has also said that he wants to reduce the capital gains tax rate perhaps to 15%. Maybe he should consider a 15% tax rate for all personal and corporate income taxes.

Although there are studies with conflicting conclusions, logic tells us that lower tax rates will lead to higher economic growth. That’s because the lower tax rates will give households more money to spend and save. The increase in spending raises consumption and stimulates market-driven growth.

The increased household savings will increase capital formation which will lead to more capital available for business to expand.

Lower corporate tax rates will increase corporate retained earnings and provide more capital for growth. That will lead to business expansion.

While addressing lower taxes, perhaps we should answer the question, “Why is labor taxed at a higher rate than capital?”

If the corporate tax rate should be 15%, and the capital gains tax rate should be 15%, why should personal income be taxed at a progressive rate that could be as high as 37%?

The answer is that it shouldn’t.

Perhaps now is the time to discuss a complete overhaul of the federal income tax code. The goal should be to make the tax code simpler and easier to administer. The new code should also raise sufficient tax revenue. And the code should be equitable.

A new tax code could be based on what I refer to as the Busler Single Rate Tax plan. It would look like this:

For all households, a 15% single rate tax on all income above a livable minimum (perhaps twice the poverty level). All income from wages, rent, interest, profit, dividends or capital gains would be taxed at the same rate. There would be no deductions for anything. Also, the corporate tax rate would be 15%.

This plan makes it very easy to calculate the tax liability for each household. The livable minimum for a family of four would be, say, $50,000, meaning the first $50,000 of income, regardless of how it is earned, would not be taxed. Above $50,000 every dollar of income is taxed at 15% no matter how much income is earned.

If a family of four earned an income of $70,000, they would subtract the livable minimum of $50,000 and then pay 15% of the remaining $20,000, meaning their tax liability would be $3,000.

As income increases, tax liability would increase by 15% for each additional dollar of income. If a household earned $1 million, the tax liability would be $142,500. The tax paid would increase proportionately as income increases.

Total tax revenue would be similar to revenue collected under the current tax code for perhaps the first year. After that, this plan should accelerate economic growth so that tax revenue will grow much faster than it would have under the current system.

This plan is very easy to administer. The tax liability calculation for each household would be very easy to determine with just a calculator. No need for an expanded IRS to evaluate every taxpayer’s deductions. There are no deductions.

Some will argue that this plan is just a tax break for the wealthy. While the effective tax rate for the wealthy would decline, they would have more capital to invest which would eventually increase their income and increase the amount of taxes that they pay. Remember, the goal is to increase tax revenue from the wealthy which would happen.

This plan treats every household exactly the same. No favorites with tax deductions. And above the livable minimum, which may be adjusted for circumstances, every taxpayer is treated exactly the same.

This has always seemed fair to me and the right plan for the majority of Americans.

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