Progressive Taxation System vs. Flat Taxation System

730 Words2 Pages

The United States’ economy, as everyone knows, is not in its best shape. One way the government gains money is by imposing taxes on people. There are many taxes that are placed on different items that the public needs or already has. The United States uses a taxation system which is criticized by many people due to not fully understanding the system. The system used is called progressive tax. However, many people believe the system of flat tax should be the system used for taxing. The progressive taxation system is the best system for the majority of society.
Many people would like to believe that the flat tax is so named because it will flatten their finances. That at least is the intended conclusion. A flat tax system is “flat” due to the fact that there is only one tax rate, while today’s system has various rates (Sahadi). Everyone pays at one certain tax rate (Foster). The flat taxation system typically was proposed as a replacement for the income tax, which is a progressive tax (Sahadi). A progressive tax is defined as “a tax whose rate increases as the payer’s income increases” (“Progressive and Regressive Taxes”). In other words, the tax is levied at a rate that increases as the quantity of one’s income increases. The progressive tax system mainly shows in the income taxes. Someone with a high income will pay more taxes than one with a low income (“Progressive Taxation System”). This taxation system was created to collect a greater proportion of tax revenue from wealthy people reflecting the “ability-to-pay” principle. Regardless of which tax system a society or country chooses, the government benefits from it. It is to be said that both taxation systems could be considered fair in their own way, with both having their adv...

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