dave (02/18/83)
Without getting into the whole question of a flat-rate tax, it disturbs me a little bit to see generalizations (by Steve Tjiang and others) about "millionaires not paying any tax because of loopholes". There are actually very few real "loopholes". There do exist quite a number of *deliberate* incentives towards particular goals (e.g., Canadian films, MURBS, etc.). Those people who reduce their taxes by participating in these incentive plans are generally taking risks with their money, and they are putting it in places which the government has indicated need stimulation. As Ralph noted, the Income Tax Act IS complicated. And yes, it could have been worded better (at least for those of us with computer backgrounds - it's entirely in English now, with no mathematical expressions whatever). But a flat-rate tax wouldn't make it any simpler. A lot of the Act deals with specific problems that HAVE to be dealt with individually to be fair. (Consider the problem of how to tax both corporations and individuals without doubly taxing the same income. That alone takes up a chunk of space.) And a lot of the complexity relates to specific political/economic goals - specialized treatment of resource companies, farmers & fishermen [fisherpersons?], small businesses which need capital to survive, etc. There are good reasons for special (not necessarily privileged, just different) of a lot of groups. Dave Sherman CSRG