Lakhota
Diamond Member
By Seth Hanlon
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry released a tax plan this week that he and many media reports called a 20 percent flat tax. But Perrys new alternative tax scheme is hardly flat.
Leaving aside the fact that it is layered on top of the existing tax code, it establishes not one but two different tax rates: 20 percent for wages, and zero percent for investment income. Because capital gains and dividends would be sheltered from taxes under Perrys plan, some of the wealthiest Americans would wind up paying nowhere near 20 percent overall.
In fact, billionaire Warren Buffett, who has lamented the fact that he currently pays only 11 percent of his adjusted gross income in federal income taxes, would pay as little as 0.2 percent under Perrys plan.
More: ANALYSIS: Warren Buffett Would Pay As Little As 0.2 Percent Tax Rate Under Rick Perry's Tax Plan | ThinkProgress
NOTE: Again, Buffett would pay 0.2% (less than 1%) under Perry's plan - not 20%.