My Congresscritter, seeing the writing on the wall of the Alternative Minimum Tax, introduced a bill that not only eliminates that, but offers a very simplified income tax. Ryan’s office sent along a couple of PDF files, one of which is basically the presser linked to above, with the other a slightly-more-expansive document with a couple of charts thrown in. The highlights, beyond killing the AMT:
- Sets up a parallel system that offers the following:
- Eliminates the current mess of standard and itemized deductions, replacing them all with a $12,500 single/$25,000 joint standard deduction and a $3,500-per-person personal exemption (both adjusted for inflation).
- Uses two brackets; 10% for the first $50,000 of taxable income for single filers/$100,000 for joint filers, and 25% for amounts beyond that.
- Makes the 2003 capital gains/dividend tax cuts permanent.
- Allows one to choose which system to pay under, allows one additional “no-reasons” change, and allows additional changes for major life events (death, divorce and marriage are the 3 listed).
It’s a good start. I’d rather see a single rate (the lower, the better, and that also goes for the “Fair”Tax), and would much prefer that it replace the current system rather than operate alongside it.
