Ready for a new year and another bout with the Internal Revenue Service, deductions, exemptions, pens and pencils, calculators, receipts, 1040s, W-2s, accountants, Quicken, TurboTax, and more? If you’re like most Americans, that laundry list of income tax jargon, paraphernalia, professionals and their fees is enough to set your head spinning — and even if it isn’t, the thought of paying Uncle Sam your annual dues will certainly do the trick.
America’s tax code needs reform, plain and simple. The current tax system discourages saving, investment, and entrepreneurship. It’s a drag on productivity, job growth, international competitiveness, and wages. It’s complicated beyond belief, and it needs to change. The good news is that there’s a solution that would spell the end of America’s convoluted tax code once and for all: The Heritage Foundation’s “New Flat Tax.” It’s as easy as one, two, three, and here’s what you need to know about it:
Under the New Flat Tax, American taxpayers will pay a single, simple tax rate–roughly 28 percent. It replaces all federal income taxes, as well as the death tax, payroll taxes, and all excises not dedicated to a trust fund. It also includes a $3,500 health insurance tax credit for low and middle-income families who purchase policies, it includes an anti-poverty tax credit for low-wage workers, and it includes deductions for higher education, charitable contributions, and an optional home mortgage interest deduction.
The Heritage Foundation is the nation’s most broadly supported public policy research institute, with more than 453,000 individual, foundation and corporate donors. Heritage, founded in February 1973, mission is
to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
