Flat Tax vs Progressive Tax

In class we have recently studied taxes and the many different types of taxes. The United States has a progressive tax, meaning that people that earn more money pay more taxes than those who have a lower income. This raises the question of why the United States doesn’t have a flat tax, in which all people would be taxed the same percentage, regardless of income. Personally I think that both have their own benefits as well as flaws.

                Progressive taxes can be beneficial especially for lower income families because those families don’t have to pay as much money for taxes. However, for the rich people, many feel it is unfair that they are taxed so much higher. I think that it’s correct to not tax low income families or people experiencing poverty. However, you cannot punish the families with a higher income because often those people have worked hard to put themselves in their current position.

                Flat taxes are beneficial because it is equal for everyone, regardless of income. However, this could be negative for low income families due to the fact that a certain percentage of the little money they have will be taken away for taxes. I do feel it is overall the fairest way to tax people, because you aren’t punishing anyone for the amount of money they make. Overall I think a flat tax rate would be easier to manage and more fair to everyone. If you set a certain tax rate, although everyone is using the same rate, the higher income families are still going to pay much more money for taxes than the lower income families. I also agree with the statement from the first article that stated that it would be much easier for people to figure out what their annual taxes will be with a flat tax. Flat taxes would make everything much simpler and be more fair to everyone.

                I don’t think that progressive taxes are entirely bad. In some ways, I think that maybe the rich or high-income families should be taxed more. Not all rich people had to work and spend money for college to become rich and I think that in cases like that, they should be taxed more. However, overall I think that a flat tax would be the simple and fair way to go.