Implementing a flat rate tax would greatly improve the economy in the
             United States. A flat tax rate would increase savings, discretionary
             spending, and prosperous investments largely by reducing marginal tax rates
             and simplifying compliance costs. In addition, any negative impact on
             lower income Americans would be balanced by the increased gains in
             efficiency from the flat tax rate. Taken together, these arguments suggest
             that a flat tax rate would be hugely beneficial to the American economy.
             Perhaps one of the most important steps in understanding the economic
             benefits of a flat rate tax is in creating a solid working definition of
             such a tax. Intuitively, a flat rate tax can be defined simply as a tax
             that is proportionally applied on total income. For example, a 10 percent
             flat rate tax would be $5,000 for a person who earns $50,000. Similarly
             the flat tax rate of 10 percent would be $2,000 for an individual who earns
             a mere $20,000 per year. Browning & Browning (1995) note that a true flat
             rate income tax has two important and defining characteristics. They note,
             " first, the tax base is a comprehensive measure of income with no
             preferential treatment given to specific sources or uses of in come, and
             second, a single tax rate is applied to that base" (629).
             While the definition of a flat rate tax seems simple, the actual flat
             taxes that have been proposed in the United States are usually modified
             forms, and as such are not "true" flat taxes. They use a more restrictive
             definition of taxable income than the true definition of a flat tax, and
             they also often apply some small graduated tax rates to the income base.
             Browning & Browning (1995) argue that "modified flat tax proposals are more
             complex, more inefficient, and more horizontally inequitable than a true
             Historically, federal income tax in the United States has been a
             graduated system of taxat...