A Real Life Example Why A Flat Tax Is Inequitable And Unjust

Recently, a physician friend of mine had asked this question of me:

“As far as Tax goes, why not use a flat tax? I can’t understand why it won’t be considered?”

My reply to him follows.

“The so-called “flat tax,” which would be a no-deductions type of single percentage levies “across the board” upon everyone, bar none, is a disproportionate burden to those who make less.

“Consider the following, which is a real-life example to illustrate the case in point:

“A female friend shared with me that she and her spouse have a 50/50 sharing agreement with household expenses. That is to say, she pays half, and he pays half. He is retired, she is not. In his working years, he was a

Warren Buffet tells Congress, “Stop coddling the Super-Rich.”

Op-Ed Contributor

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

By WARREN E. BUFFETT

Published: August 14, 2011

Omaha

OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was