Obama Plants the Seeds of The Flat Tax

Speaking at Cayuhoga Community College in Parma, Ohio, on September 8, 2010, President Obama planted (perhaps inadvertently) the seeds of The Flat Tax.

The president called for full expensing (100% writeoff) of investment in plant and equipment for all U.S. businesses in 2011, thereby removing the current $250,000 limit in Section 179 of the U.S. tax code.

Obama’s 100% first-year writeoff leads, in a few steps, to The Flat Tax.

1. Make expensing permanent.

2. Apply the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) to all tax filers at a 19% rate. At the same time broaden the tax base by eliminating all deductions, exemptions, and credits except for a personal allowance.

3. Integrate the corporate income tax with the personal income tax at the same 19% rate. Eliminate double taxation of dividends, tax on capital gains, tax on estates, and deduction of interest.

Voila!