Book Description
A facted filled call to action, which Steve Forbes will use to lobby the President and Congress for real reform.
Customer Reviews:
Good idea, and surprisingly well written.......2007-02-08
Like any politically charged book this one (along with corresponding reviews) will likely get mixed reviews right along party lines. Conservatives will love it, progressives will hate it, blah-blah-blah. I think we've all had enough of it. So I figured it would be good to get a traditionalist's point of view, the opinion of a moderate, an independent.
First, the current tax code isn't working, so I welcome any idea for changing it. Steve Forbes proposes a flat tax, or what he calls a "fair tax", in which anyone over a certain income pays 17% income tax. We all pay the same percentage, but obviously different amounts. The rich pay more, the poor pay less, and the really poor don't pay at all. The interesting part is that Forbes uses strong, compelling evidence to support his contention that this will increase (rather than decrease) federal government revenues, that the poor will not suffer under the plan, that the rich will not squeeze through the cracks, and the economy will soar. He cites several other countries who have implemented similar measures and how well their economies have done afterward.
In addition, tax loopholes are closed so the rich can't use accountants to avoid paying their share, the IRS is disbanded, and we all pay our taxes with a simple 5 minute postcard. Sounds great. I'm sure there will be naysayers and "boos" and "hisses", but Forbes makes a strong argument here, at least one strong enough to be heard.
Helpful.......2007-01-10
My Dad gave this book to me for Christmas after I had been complaining all year about trying to do my own taxes. This book just makes you wonder why we have such a complicated tax code and who really benefits from keeping it so complicated; certainly not us the taxpayers. Thanks Steve - hope that you or another person working within the real world, i.e. not the political arena, makes a run for 2008!
We need a flat tax.......2006-12-21
The Flat Tax is very controversial idea that has sparked Steve Forbes to run for the presidency in the past. It is a very interesting idea and one that would do this country a lot of good. Sadly it will never be implemented due to political pressures but it is still fun to read about. This is a very quick book to read that lays out why we need a flat tax and what the oppositions says about it. Steve Forbes addresses some of the big objections and the book is very interesting to read. Highly recommend if you are interested in public policy and want a fresh approach. Especially nice if you think the AMT is useless.
Use the time you saved doing taxes to read a map of Europe.......2006-03-19
Paraphrase from one of the book's highlighted sections:
"In dramatically lowering taxes, Slovakia and its fellow Baltic states...." Since when is Slovakia (hint: small country, east of Austria, north of Hungary) a Baltic state?
This book contains the usual nonsense about doing your taxes on a postcard. We all know that the hard part is not in computing your tax, but in calculating your income. That's what all those IRS forms are all about. The only way to make it so simple would be to tax only reported wages - shifting all the tax to those who work for a living.
The Flat Tax is rearranging the deck chairs on theTitanic.......2006-02-28
I supported Steve Forbes Tax reform 10 years ago when he was trying to become president. I now support H.R. 25 the FairTax. It is a grass roots effort to reform our nations tax code from an income based tax to a consumption based tax.
Everyone keeps 100% of their paycheck without any deductions and it strips all of the embedded taxes out of the supply chain to provide the consumer with a set of tax free goods and services to be taxed only one time by the final consumer.
Simple, flat, fair, completely transparent, no winners, no loosers, and most importantly no tent for the camels to stick their nose in.
Book Description
Learn how much better your life will be when you can...
Do your taxes in a matter of minutes
Spend money on your family, not on your accountant
Make scrounging for receipts an activity of the past
Turn April 15th into just another day
Customer Reviews:
The Flat Tax is Real Tax Reform.......1999-03-14
This book describes a tax relief measure that is much needed in America. While the book is now a few years old and some of Mr. Armey's predictions for the passage of Flat Tax legislation have not come to fruition, the description and explanations regarding the Flat Tax is still pertinent and applicable. This book is intended for ordinary citizens who are burdened by the onslaught of taxes at the local, state, and federal level. It is not intended reading for an economist and contains little jargon. The book answers common questions regarding Mr. Armey's proposal. It also debunks and refutes arguments that have been made against the Flat Tax as well as showing why competing tax reform measures miss the mark. The Flat Tax is an idea who's time has come and Mr. Armey has done a superb job explaining why it is needed now and why it will work to send America's economic growth through the ceiling.
Amazon.com
Here's the book that started the flat tax debate back in 1985, updated in an edition for the 1990s. Robert Hall and Alvin Rabushka present their plan as fair, efficient, simple, and workable. All income in the United States would be taxed once at the rate of 19 percent, and there would be generous allowances for families. This system and its postcard-sized tax form would wipe out $100 billion in annual compliance costs and demolish the Washington culture of lobbyists, whose entire industry depends upon tampering with the rules of free enterprise.
Book Description
This new and updated edition of The Flat Tax sets forth the flat-tax plan developed by Robert Hall and Alvin Rabushka, senior fellows at the Hoover Institution, who believe it is the most fair, efficient, simple, and workable plan on the table. The proposal taxes all income, once and only once, at a uniform low rate of 19 percent. It permits a tax-free allowance of $25,500 for family of four, thereby exempting many poor and lower-middle-income households from taxation. All wage earners would pay less tax than under the current system. The flat-tax plan tax returns can be filed on a postcard.
This flat-tax plan is not an academic abstraction. Hall and Rabushka have designed tax forms, rewritten the Internal Revenue Code, and worked out all the practical details. The plan has withstood the scrutiny of leading experts on taxation and has been enthusiastically endorsed by many of them. Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have praised the flat tax. Both Republicans and Democrats have introduced it as bills in previous sessions of Congress.
Customer Reviews:
Non-Political Review.......2007-01-19
I'm not going to debate the merits or failings of the flat tax in this review. A book review is too short for that. The question is did this book clearly explain what the flat tax is, how it will work, what the authors believe the benefits are and the logic behind their arguments? Yes to all the above. Whether or not you think you'll agree, or whether or not you end up agreeing is beside the point. The flat tax is a suggested tax reform and if your interested in tax reform this is a great book to understand the nuts and bolts of the flat tax that many of the flat-tax proponents are supporting. If you read this, you will understand what is being debated when the flat tax is being discussed.
A Good Idea!.......2006-05-19
It's hard to believe this idea has been around so long, and we still don't have it! It's simply the fairest, simplest, most efficient, and workable plan yet proposed! Read about it, legislate, and maybe we won't have to waste 2 weekends a year on that pesky 1040.
Book Description
Everyone knows that the current tax system is unfair. Some of the richest people in America pay no tax, while a huge share of the tax burden falls on the rest of us. A mere glance at the tax code confirms that it is far too complex, with volumes of rules that no ordinary person could possibly comprehend. What is to be done? Some conservatives have called for a so-called flat tax. But a flat tax is not necessarily a simple tax, and "flat" means "more" for most taxpayers: a rise in middle-class taxes to finance tax cuts for the rich. Is there another choice?
In clear, easy-to-understand language, Edward J. McCaffery proposes a straightforward and fair alternative. A "fair not flat" tax that is consistent and progressive would tax spending, not income and savings. And if it were collected at its lower levels through a national sales tax, most people would not have to file a return. A supplemental tax on spending for the wealthiest individuals would make the national sales tax progressive. Under McCaffery's system, a family of four would pay no tax on their first $20,000 in spending, and 15 percent on the next $60,000. Only the few families who spend more than $80,000 a year would be subject to the supplemental tax. Necessities would be taxed less than ordinary and luxury items. No one would be taxed directly on savings. The estate and gift or so-called death tax would be abolished, for the simple reason that dead people don't spend. The "fair not flat" tax would fall on heirs when and as they spend their good fortune. Perhaps best of all, most Americans would not have to fill out tax returns.
Simpler, more efficient, fairer, and more reflective of America's current social values, McCaffery's "fair not flat" tax could help get us out of the tax mess that politicians and special interests have gotten us into, improving the whole country in the process. Read Fair Not Flat to find out how.
“In Fair Not Flat, Mr. McCaffery lays out the case for a consumption tax. He does so in a reader-friendly way, presenting his argument with very few footnotes, equations or technical terms. The consumption of the book, so to speak, is not at all taxing. And its argument is well worth pondering.”—Bruce Bartlett, Wall Street Journal
Customer Reviews:
On the right track, but "The FairTax Book" has a better idea........2006-06-02
McCaffrey's on the right track. Consumption taxes are much better for everyone, from many different perspectives. He does a good job of tracking the history of taxation in the United States; most people don't realize that we haven't had an income tax very long, and our forefathers didn't want an income tax. In fact, it took a constitutional amendment in 1913 to even permit an income tax. However, McCaffery's plan is still too complicated, and prone to wreaking havoc on specific sectors of the economy. The FairTax, as outlined in Rep. John Linder's "The FairTax Book," is superior to and simpler than McCaffery's "Fair not Flat" tax, and maintains progressivity that completely untaxes the poor. And FairTax is much closer to reality, since it's an actual bill in Congress right now (HR 25 and S 25), and it has over 50 co-sponsoring Representatives and Senators. McCaffery should use his talents in the tax policy arena to help support FairTax, which already has a nationwide grassroots network over 700,000 strong. Thanks to McCaffery for bringing more attention to the importance of taxing consumption and not income!
Out of Date but almost right, well half right........2006-04-17
Just get "The Fair Tax Book" or the new paperback update. It explains it better and describes real legislation before the congress right now. Tell your elected officials to support HR25 or SB25 and force a vote on it. It starts with abolishing the IRS and replacing all taxes with a progressive version of a national sales tax. Everybody pays after a pre-bate refund to cover basic poverty level spending tax. Everybody (rich people, drug dealers, illegal aliens, you, and me) pays when buying new goods. Even funds Social Security! Read the book. Call the politicians. Demand action.
A remarkable learning experience.......2005-12-25
If you want to learn about taxation this is the book. A clear expose of a tax system that is way out of control and how to fix it. Thank you Mr. McCaffery, you are a true scholar and educator.
I was skeptical but he convinced me........2003-10-27
Normally I pass by the business books on my way to the science books but this one caught my eye. I was skeptical but he convinced me.
It's a tax on consumption that is not flat like a sales tax. Every year you would fill out a form as you do now. Poor and many middle class people spend all they earn so they would end out much as now. Rich come in two types,
(1) those who luxuriate and (2) those who build businesses (and jobs!). They would come out very differently!
The idea is that you spend what you earn plus what you borrow minus what you save. Financial institutions would report borrowing and saving on forms like W-2 so you would compute your consumption from that plus earnings.
He wasn't very clear (anyway, I wasn't) about the example of buying a house. I believe on a $270,000 house you would be effectively spending $10,000/year for 27 years and this expenditure could be taxed at a progressive rate. There would be no capital gains taxes (because they are mostly inflation taxes).
Tax and A Participatory Democracy.......2003-01-29
Every American pays taxes in one form or another, but not many of us understand its broader social policy implications. I read this book and it gave me a working understanding of how the dry old tax system affects broader human behavior: How tax affects how each of us saves, spends and invests. Ultimately, the tax system is about what values we as a society want to promote. Here, McCaffery explains how the tax system is wrong-headed by encouraging spending and discouraging saving and challenges us to rethink age-old liberal assumption regarding taxing income, rather than consumption. While a consumption tax is not a new idea and McCaffery certainly is not the architect of it, McCaffery does a good job of synthesizing the literature on taxes and challenges us to rethink the values behind our current tax code.
Book Description
On the surface, the concept of a flat tax sounds good-it would simplify tax preparation and lower most people's taxes. However, according to Scott E. Hicko, a flat tax would increase taxes for the average worker and destroy the American dream. Under such tax legislation, the super wealthy would pay less tax while the nations's working class sould carry the nation's tax burden. First introduced in the 1970's, the flat tax concept will continue to be debated as the government seeks ways to streamline, says Hicko. And, most people do not understand the realities of it. The Flat Tax: Why it Won'T Work for America is the first book to outline the negative impact a flat tax sould create on the American economy.
Customer Reviews:
Misses the point entirely.......2006-07-09
A book of even greater myths.
He misses the fundamental flaw in the entire plot.
America is not a complicated economy. It may be many faceted which is very different from complicated. What is complicated is an organization that spends its time looking for never ending ways to justify taking money from its productive citizens. Calculating and grading every profitable venture in a myriad of complicated ways to invent and justify ploys to squeeze out more and more taxes. It is a marvellous game with a cast of tens of thousands uselessly employed in a cat and mouse game that could well be employed in a proper job where there was something to market and the end of a day's work. Where their activity made the GDP greater at the end of the day than it was in the morning.
The less people involved in collecting taxes the better for the country. The simpler the system the less wasted labor in administering it the better.
The true fact is the IRS has only ever got more complicated, employed more people, made more rules, got more difficult to follow and created more accountants jobs as people in despair turn to specialists in almost a vain effort to comply with their never ending changes in rules. And you think you can fix this with a bit of fiddling at the edges? Dream on.
No one has to date despite the massive efforts than have been put into it trying. As I said you can't fix something that is fundamentally flawed in the first place. Endlessly figuring out ways of taking money from the producers that have to give to the unproductive have nots is about as communistic as they come.
I hope your red card is fully paid up Mr. Hicko.
Just what is Hicko attacking??.......2006-02-03
I've leafed through this book, and can find no description of the proposed tax law he is attacking. There is no index. I've typed "Rabushka" and "Hall" into Amazon's Search in this Book engine, and come up empty-handed. I find Dick Armey's name, but again no specifics about just what the the Hon. Mr. Armey advocates.
In flat taxation as in everything else, the Devil's in the Details. Once you get your head around the flat tax a la Hall and Rabushka (called the Simple Tax), all other competing flat tax proposals come off as small beer. This is not to say that the Simple Tax cannot be much improved. Here's two major changes:
* Replace the personal allowances with a refundable personal credit of at least $2500 per year. This turns the Simple Tax into a variant of the negative income tax.
* Raise the flat tax rate to something like 27-30%, then let employers credit FICA tax payments against Simple Tax liabilities. This simple step goes a fair way towards addressing the inequities Hicko complains of.
The Simple Tax modified as I propose would relieve all individuals who are not self-employed from having to think about taxes. All taxes owed on wages, interest, dividends would be withheld by the payer, and amounts received would be free of tax.
Hence compliance costs for most households would go to zero. Most tax CPAs would have to change careers; most H&RBlock offices would close.
More generally, a modification of the Simple Tax is not subject to most of the objections Hicko raises against flat taxes in general.
Hicko has motives.......2005-08-24
Throughout this book the same thought kept occuring in my brain: The author, Hicko, is an accountant and tax preparer by trade. Of course he doesn't want a flat tax. His profession is the only one that loses under a simple tax code. This book is just a bunch of class warfare dribble that went out of style in 1975. Forbes' book, Flat Tax Revolution, is much better.
Experience, Critical Thinking & Clear Presentation.......2002-12-30
Scott Hicko's work to expose the lies and fraud of the widely discussed flat tax ideas coming from the Right is a breath of fresh air in the stifling and rancid air of Bush era politics. Even though it responds to Dick Armey's doomed plan of the mid-90's, you can be sure the Flat Tax debate will come roaring back as the Right, led by the Bush/Cheney/Rove triumvirate, continues its class war against the middle and lower classes.
Other reviewers have criticised this book. One reviewer mentions Alvin Rabushka's work on the flat tax system but Rabushka himself conceeded in his book that the flat tax would disproportionately burden the lower classes! The reviewers offer no substantiation that Hicko's book is factually incorrect. The author has 25 years of experience as a CPA and has done battle with the IRS for years. He knows the tax codes inside and out and he is adept at straightforward calculations about federal revenue. He makes very clear the case that the people with the money and power in this country are doing everything in their power to pass more and more of the burden to the lower and middle classes. It's not rocket science. It's math. The Right's usual approach when they try to shove this sort of tax concept down our throats is to cloak it in the classic language of "trickle-down," to convince us that all of these changes will lead to fantastic job growth and new prosperity for the country. Fat chance. We've seen plenty of what Republican economic initiative has done for this country in the last 20+ years. It's done a fantastic job enriching the top 1% of the people in the country, that's what it's done. All the while the middle class is going backwards over the last 30 years. Put another way, the middle and lower classes are heading down the toilet; we hardly need the final flush of a Flat Tax.
...
Not Even Looking in the Right Place.......1999-04-01
For almost 150 years America thrived and expanded without an income tax.
Our problem now is that we have an income tax. Scott Hicko is discussing what? Another income tax!
The difference between our graduated income tax and a flat income tax is the difference between being tortured to death slowly versus being killed quickly with a shot to the head. I guess I'd take the shot, but I'd rather have a third option of keeping my life and living it freely.
You best bet right now is to use Amazon to gather as much about income taxation as you can. I highly recommend "Your Money Or Your Life" by Sheldon Richman and "Why Government Doesn't Work" by Harry Browne.
The enforcement of any income requires that the government pry into you private life. I want to end that, and enter the new millenium as a much more free country.
Average customer rating:
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America's Tax Revolution : How It Will Affect You: How It Will Affect You
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Taxes
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| Business & Investing
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ASIN: 0471161802 |
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Changing America's Tax System: A Guide to the Debate
Martin A. Sullivan
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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| Accounting
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ASIN: 0471161799 |
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Family Tax Equity (Volume 1)
Manufacturer: Kenneth L. Connor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000BB7J52 |
Product Description
Essays on taxing the American family, income splitting, restoring the American Dream, flat tax, social security and more. Includes reviews of books on the subject of taxation impact on family viability and success.
Books:
- FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit
- Flying Colours (Hornblower Saga)
- Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
- Give Me Your Hand: Traditional and Practical Guidance on Visiting the Sick
- Going Home: Unfinished Business/ Island of Flowers/ Mind Over Matter
- Harry Houdini (DK Biography)
- Hell's Angels: Into the Abyss
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- Houses, Villas, and Palaces in the Roman World
Books Index
Books Home
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- Biology, Sixth Edition
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The Fair Tax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS
The Flat Tax (Hoover Classics)
The Flat Tax: Why It Won't Work for America
Fair Not Flat: How to Make the Tax System Better and Simpler
A New Birth of Freedom: A Vision for America
