Interview with Mart Laar, the pioneer of Europe’s flat tax revolution

[A18]

If only it would happen here.

[A18]

I think we can get some guidance from the flat tax without actually implementing one. Taxes on savings and investment should be drastically cut, if not eliminated. Economically inefficient loopholes and 'junk deductions' should be traded in for lower marginal rates. And most importantly, the alternative minimum tax should be repealed.

[A18]

You consider loans and fees tax rates? Wow, what a socialist society.

[A18]

Payroll taxes represent money you get back at retirement. The gas tax is a user fee for the roads. Strip those away, and I doubt you get anything close to equitable taxation.

The effective individual income tax rate on the top 1 percent is presently about 21%, so a flat tax is unlikely to change much, except to eliminate distortions. Most flat tax proposals have a rate of about 20%, and a generous exemption based on family size (about $35,000 for a family of four).

As I said earlier, though, we don't need a flat tax to eliminate the inefficiency of the present tax code.

Taxes on savings and investment should be drastically cut, if not eliminated. Economically inefficient loopholes and 'junk deductions' should be traded in for lower marginal rates. The estate tax should at the very least be lowered to 15%. Etc., etc.