Flat Rate Tax

This new and updated edition of The Flat Tax—called "the bible of the flat tax movement" by Forbes—explains what's wrong with our present tax system and offers a practical alternative. Hall and Rabushka set forth what many believe is the most fair, efficient, simple, and workable tax reform plan on the table: tax all income, once only, at a uniform rate of 19 percent.

"There is increasing interest in, and recognition of, the need for both tax reduction and tax reform in Canada. This book provides the rationale for tax reform and a road map for that reform. The book includes 5 chapters from leading experts in the field and provides a persuasive, compelling case for tax reform in Canada." "The Impact of Taxes on Economic Behavior by Milagros Palacios and Kumi Harischandra offers a broad overview of the incentive effects associated with taxes that affect our decisions to work more, to save, to invest, and to engage in entrepreneurial activity." "Compliance and Administrative Costs of Taxation in Canada by renowned University of Montreal economics professor Francois Vaillancourt and Jason Clemens provides readers with an understanding of the vast costs associated with administering, and complying with, our current tax system."--BOOK JACKET.

One of the most striking tax developments in recent years, and one that continues to attract considerable attention, is the adoption by several countries of a form of "flat tax." Discussion of these quite radical reforms has been marked, however, more by assertion and rhetoric than by analysis and evidence. This paper reviews experience with the flat tax, seeking to redress the balance. It stresses that the flat taxes that have been adopted differ fundamentally, and that empirical evidence on their effects is very limited. This precludes simple generalization, but several lessons emerge: there is no sign of Laffer-type behavioral responses generating revenue increases from the tax cut elements of these reforms; their impact on compliance is theoretically ambiguous, but there is evidence for Russia that compliance did improve; the distributional effects of the flat taxes are not unambiguously regressive, and in some cases they may have increased progressivity, including through the impact on compliance; adoption of the flat tax has not resolved common challenges in taxing capital income; and it may have strengthened, not weakened, the automatic stabilizers. Looking forward, the question is not so much whether more countries will adopt a flat tax as whether those that have will move away from it.

The president of Forbes, Inc. presents his argument for a flat tax, suggesting that the new tax would be fair and efficient, with the new tax form being no bigger than a postcard and without any of the loopholes that currently exist.

"From adjusted gross income to zoning and property taxes, the second edition of The Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy offers the best and most complete guide to taxes and tax-related issues. More than 150 tax practitioners and administrators, policymakers, and academics have contributed. The result is a unique and authoritative reference that examines virtually all tax instruments used by governments (individual income, corporate income, sales and value-added, property, estate and gift, franchise, poll, and many variants of these taxes), as well as characteristics of a good tax system, budgetary issues, and many current federal, state, local, and international tax policy issues. The new edition has been completely revised, with 40 new topics and 200 articles reflecting six years of legislative changes. Each essay provides the generalist with a quick and reliable introduction to many topics but also gives tax specialists the benefit of other experts' best thinking, in a manner that makes the complex understandable. Reference lists point the reader to additional sources of information for each topic. The first edition of The Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy was selected as an Outstanding Academic Book of the Year (1999) by Choice magazine."--Publisher's website.

These experts present a lively discussion of the pros and cons of the proposals for a flat tax, think through the likely effects of such a radical change, and make clear what can seem a confusing array of facts and figures.