Flat Tax Reform We Can All Support?

Under Wyden's plan, all Americans—and all corporations—would use a one-page form. There would be three rates (15, 25 and 35 percent) instead of today's six (10, 15, 25, 28, 33 and 35) for individuals, and a single rate for corporations. The alternative minimum tax, which this year will ensnare 23 million taxpayers, would be abolished. The standard deductions (currently $5,000 for single filers, $10,000 for married couples) would be tripled. No fool he, Wyden flinches from severe flatness that would end the most popular deductions, for mortgage interest and charitable contributions. Simplification would confiscate the intellectual capital of K Street, the habitat of Washington lobbyists, who toil to put complexities into the tax code for the benefit of clients.