Flat Tax System Analysis

Only a few American citizens take time to understand the complicated tax system in the United States, although everyone is affected by it daily. Whether it is taxes on income, housing, or sales, taxes are extremely prominent in our society and as the people being taxed we have a responsibility to understand the basic tax laws in the United States. Throughout this week in POLS 2302 I have learned about the tax system including how to advise others about tax brackets, marginal taxes, different types of taxes, and government involvement in the American tax system. If one of my friends came to me worried about moving into a new tax bracket after having been offered a raise I would explain to them the tax breaks that he can get by saving for retirement
“Progressive taxes require those with higher incomes to pay a higher percentage of their income on those particular taxes. The impact of regressive taxes is exactly the opposite: they require those with lower incomes to pay a higher percentage of their income on such taxes” ("Progressive and regressive tax systems"). These types of taxes require the population being broken down into “tax brackets.” These brackets group citizens together based on their income and each group is required to pay the percentage assigned to their specific income bracket. Many politicians are arguing for a flat tax system that would do away with tax brackets. This flat tax system requires all citizens to pay the same percentage of their income in taxes regardless of salary. Texas does not require its citizens to pay income tax due to the high sales tax in the state. Sales tax is considered regressive “because these rates are uniform regardless of the payer's income, the tax for a particular good or piece of property represents a lower percentage of a wealthy person's income than of a less wealthy person's income” ("Progressive and regressive tax systems"). The regressive sales tax has been removed from basic food items but that is where the tax exemption stops. All personal hygiene items and clothing are still taxed about 6.25%-8.25% in Texas requiring the lower class to give up a larger percentage of their
The government inserts itself into the American economy through laws, regulations, encouraging investments, and infrastructure investments (Cochran, 38-67). America uses regulations in the economy to protect and directly benefit its citizens. For example the FDA, a government organization, puts regulations on food and drug products to make sure they are safe for human consumption. Without these positive regulations the American population would be at risk for many side effects and illnesses that are easily prevented by the FDA’s guidelines. The government will also use tax rates and other factors to control what you buy. An instance of this is how the government will sometimes make the taxes higher on tobacco products to discourage people from buying these products. This factor is on the verge of negative government interference. On one had they are trying to protect the American people, but on the other they are using their power to make decisions for us by using our money as a pawn. How involved government should be in our “free enterprise system” has been a heated debate for decades. Some have gone as far as proposing that all regulation agencies should be abolished because it has been proven that they have become controlling forms of legislature within themselves (Cochran, 63). While I disagree with abolishing all regulation agencies, due to the fact many are necessary to keep our