Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul unveiled his version of a flat tax on Thursday, proposing to "blow up the tax code and start over "in a Wall Street Journal editorial.
"The tax code has grown so corrupt, complicated, intrusive and antigrowth that I've concluded the system isn't fixable," Paul, a freshman senator from Kentucky, wrote.
In its place, he called for "an over $2 trillion tax cut that would repeal the entire IRS tax code...and replace it with a low, broad-based tax of 14.5 [percent] on individuals and businesses." Under Paul's plan, all forms of income would be taxed at that level, including wages, dividends, capital gains, and interest.
"All deductions except for a mortgage and charities would be eliminated," Paul wrote. "The first $50,000 of income for a family of four would not be taxed. For low-income working families, the plan would retain the earned-income tax credit."
The plan, dubbed "The Fair and Flat Tax," would also eliminate "nearly every special interest loophole," Paul explained, along with the payroll tax and federal taxes like the gift tax and the estate tax.
A flat tax has long enjoyed support among some elements of GOP. Businessman Steve Forbes based his presidential campaigns on the idea in 1996 and 2000, and Republican candidates have periodically resurrected it since then, most recently Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 2012 and businessman Herman Cain, whose 9-9-9 flat tax made for a memorable campaign slogan.
In this cycle, several GOP candidates have advanced some form of a flat tax. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, for example, called in March for "a simple flat tax that lets every American fill out his or her taxes on a postcard."
