Americans spend $140 billion and 7.6 billion hours a year just file income taxes according to a 2010 study on the matter. Its plain and simple, the US tax code needs to be reformed and simplified.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/28/americans-pay-140-billion_n_697994.html
President Obama's proposal to increase taxes has been challenged as "class warfare". What's being coined "Buffet Rule" is not a new concept. Currently the US tax code is already set up with a tax bracket system and Alternative Minimum Tax where higher earners pay a higher tax rate. The true topic of discussion are the "special interest" tax loopholes that are exploited by the large corporations and the super rich who can afford expensive accountants and tax lawyers.
Most Americans support a progressive, but balanced tax approach.
The difficulty is that roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, did not pay federal income tax in 2009, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly-half-of-US-households-apf-1105567323.html?x=0
Whereas the top 5% of the wealthiest American's foot approximately half of the entire tax bill.
However, to put this in perspective, the average annual income for the top 400 wealthiest American's is reported to be $345 million (versus median household income of $46k). The top 400 wealthiest American's only paid an average tax rate of 16.6% which is almost half of the current income tax rate for the highest tax bracket.
What's the solution. How about a flat tax?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_tax
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