The American tax system, flat or fair?“No taxation without representation!” A fair tax system was what the American colonists were looking for and what many say we are still trying to achieve. Today, while we are all represented in government and are all required to pay taxes, some still perceive the tax system as unfair, allowing for specialized interests, loopholes, and more or less taxation based on income. Should the American tax system remain the same, where individuals' income is taxed based on how much they earn through loopholes and deductions? Should we consider a system that eliminates progressive income taxes, taxing everyone at an equal rate through the flat tax, or should we collect taxes through the national consumption of retail goods and the fair tax system? Our current tax system is a variable percentage rate based on different income brackets. Many argue that this violates our constitutional rights through unfair taxation. Multiple deductions, loopholes, special rates, and a complex system of regulations characterize our federal income tax system, prompting many to question why it is still used (Peters, 2013). The current system, while bringing in over $3 trillion, taxes income multiple times and includes taxation on property, labor, savings, and investments (National Priorities Project, 2013). The system itself is complex with over 20,000 pages of regulations, requiring a massive filing system, created and maintained by an even larger IRS, requiring over $225 billion in compliance costs (Hall, 2001). It can be difficult to find an advantage in the current system, other than the fact that it provides the government with a huge amount of funds, and has... half a paper... group or another. However, I believe that the flat rate would provide the best alternative, as it is the easiest to revert to the original if necessary, while eliminating many of the concerns raised about our current system, such as equality, complexity and cost efficiency. Works CitedHall, A. (2001, August). The flat income tax and the fair consumption tax: A comparison of federal tax proposals. Retrieved from https://wilmu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-4981484-dt-content-rid- 14738969_1/courses/POL.326.DIS.B2T01.FA2013/FlatTaxFairTaxComparison.pdfNational Priorities Project. (2013). Federal Budget 101: Where the Money Comes From. Retrieved from National Priorities Project: http://nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/revenues/ Peters, B. G. (2013). American Public Policy (vol. 9). Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press.