Keith Devens .com

How can you have a flat tax in a society with 70% unemployment? I guess when you have no governemnt to fund you can get away with it.

Where'd you get the statistic that they have 70% unemployment? In any case, you must not be aware that other countries such as Russia have a flat tax -- of 13%, even lower than they just set in Iraq -- and it's been working very well.

Unemployment
Prewar: 60%
Current: 70%
(Source: CPA and Labor Secretary, Iraqi Interim Government)

And our contractors are sub-contracting out to non-Iraqis
(http://www.ocnus.net/cgi-bin/exec/view.cgi?archive=33&num=7730). Good thing we're working to help that economy...

And flat taxes are great, just make sure you're not poor.

I'd really love a simpler tax system, but applying the same 10% flat tax to a person who makes 25,000 a year, and 500,000 is just insane. Perhaps a 2-3 levels based on very clear guidelines? All I know is that applying a flat tax to the people I help at my job would literally crush them economically. Then again, to properly judge, I'd need some stats on what the average person would pay at different levels now VS a flat tax.

From people I've heard considering a flat tax, I get the impression that they favor a system where people simply pay no taxes if they're below a certain level.

Though, I haven't done too much research into this. What's the lowest tax bracket right now?