Edward Link: Not a revolutionary tax plan

In his Oct. 10 Point of View “A system for the 21st century,” Professor Michael Walden presented two alternative taxation methods – income or sales taxes – with recommendations to overhaul each, primarily with single tax rates.

A critical social principle of taxation in place in the United States for well over a hundred years is the reduction of the tax burden on citizens with a lesser ability to pay, which serves to reduce income inequality. Accomplished with graduated rates, this is even more critical today.

Yet except for an income tax credit for very low-income households and a child deduction, he totally ignored this, and further he simply dismissed without any support the fact that the shifting of taxation from income to purchases (limited to within North Carolina borders) increases the tax burden on lower- and moderate-income households.

Moderate-income households with no children would certainly face higher income taxes, plus for senior citizens, Social Security income would be subject to either income tax or sharply higher tax on purchases, including on food.

Walden’s alternatives present the same old conservative goal, under the guise of “simplicity and fairness” – to stop taxing the wealthy at higher rates.

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Edward Link: Not a revolutionary tax plan."