FLAT TAX RATE

Se olharmos para este sistema de tributação (em sede de IRS traduz-se basicamente pela mesma taxa de imposto aplicável a todos os níveis de rendimento e a eliminação das deduções fiscais, sendo garantido um valor até ao qual a taxa é zero) numa lógica de equidade de tributação e não como sendo um "sistema fiscal de direita", talvez exista algum interesse em, pelo menos, verificar a sua aplicabilidade.

Para que possa fazer uma pequena reflexão, transcrevo dois parágrafos do OECD Observer No. 261 May 2007:

"A flat tax improves the transparency of the income tax, cuts the administrative and compliance costs and, if the rate is low, reduces the temptation to evade tax. It even stimulates growth, its defenders claim. But there is a price: a move to a flat tax system strongly affects income distribution. Advocates of the flat tax say it has already proven its worth in Russia and other economies in transition, such as the Slovak Republic. The idea has now caught the attention of some OECD countries, including Italy, Greece and Mexico."
(...)
"Most OECD countries run along the tracks of either a “comprehensive” or “dual” personal income tax system, with variations on both. Comprehensive systems include all sources of income in the same tax base and levy progressive rates, usually with generous allowances and exemptions. They are founded on the principle of both vertical and horizontal equity: taxpayers at the same income level are taxed equally, and taxpayers at a higher level of income are taxed more as a proportion of their income. The advantage of these systems is that they limit income shifting, a practice in which higher-taxed labour income is transformed into lower-taxed capital income. Their weakness lies in the reduced efficiency as a result of the often high and progressive rates and in the high compliance and administrative costs. At present, no OECD country has a purely comprehensive system, since all countries with these systems have special tax treatment for fringe benefits, capital gains, owner-occupied housing, pensions and so on."