Perry’s 20% Flat Tax: What Do You Think?

Today, Perry announced a flat 20% income tax to replace our tax code. Perry argues: “Taxes are too high, too complex, and too riddled with special interest loopholes. The new flat tax preserves mortgage interest, charitable and state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than $500,000 annually, and it increases the standard deduction to $12,500 for individuals and dependents. … This simple 20% flat tax will allow Americans to file their taxes on a postcard, saving up to $483 billion in compliance costs."

Perry will lower the corporate tax rate to 20% — dropping it from the second highest in the developed world to a rate on par with our global competitors.

Perry said he will also encourage repatriation of some of the $1.4 trillion estimated to be parked overseas by issuing a temporary lowered corporate tax rate of 5.25%.

He says he will also transition to a "territorial tax system" — one which he parallels to a code used in Hong Kong and France that only taxes in-country income.

“We should start moving toward fiscal responsibility by capping federal spending at 18% of our gross domestic product, banning earmarks and future bailouts, and passing a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution," Perry said.

Is Perry’s tax plan the right one for America?

Read Perry’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal here.  

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore