Trump's Taxes and the media

[Lrdfancypants]

MDMAlliance said:
I see several people talking about things like flat taxes and other tax-related issues, but what I'm seeing is potentially a lack of understanding of the issues.

Before I talk about what those issues are, I would like to address the point of how "47% of Americans don't pay income tax." When someone sees that, they will probably think "I pay taxes, so should the 47% because it isn't fair." However, I think what people need to realize is that the statistic applies to Federal Income Tax only, as there are other forms of tax (and income tax) out there.
(http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/sep/18/mitt-romney/romney-says-47-percent-americans-pay-no-income-tax/) This source shows that the 47% who don't pay income tax are actually either just low-income working families or the elderly (tax breaks regarding them).
It's also not that they don't pay them, but that they get their tax dollars back from their tax returns.
"Another 30 percent got all their tax money back from the government, through mechanisms such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, which encourages low-income Americans to work by refunding money to them through the tax code." (From the linked source above)

Now to go on to the flat tax issue. People here seem to think that a flat tax is a solution to the problems we have, but don't realize that (for example) a 10-15% flat tax is simply not enough. On top of that, it disproportionately hits lower income earners. Once you change the tax code to include exemptions for lower income workers, you now no longer have a flat tax. It's flatter than it would be now, but that wont be the only issue a flat tax would come across.

The fact that we have used our current tax code for so long means that a lot of what we have established here revolve around our current system. Disrupting that system could mean some negative side effects such as the loss of jobs directly (maybe even indirectly) related to our taxes. You know, ones that deal with taxes. If it becomes a simplified tax system, the job will no longer be needed.

Of course, while there are potential benefits to a flat tax, the negatives are not "potential." So it's a lot riskier than you guys give it credit for. The fact of the matter is that people and society don't really react to changes in taxes as predicted, even if it makes sense they would.

Yes it's risky.