DeSantis Calls For Killing IRS And Imposing 'flat tax' In Lead-Up To Iowa Caucuses
With the
Iowa caucuses fast approaching, Gov.
Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said that he wants to see the
IRS abolished and a so-called flat tax system introduced.
DeSantis, who has supported such a system in the past but has notably not raised the issue much on the
campaign trail, mentioned the policy idea during a CNN town hall less than two weeks before voters in the Hawkeye State become the first in the nation to make their choice for the GOP ticket.
“I want to eliminate the IRS, and I would like a flat one, single rate flat tax. Obviously, I would only do it if it was lower taxes for everybody. But that is the ideal tax system,” DeSantis said, although he didn’t face any follow-up questions about the policy proposal.
DeSantis was asked whether he supports the elimination of the federal income tax. While DeSantis didn’t delve into the details of his theoretical tax plan, a flat tax system is generally one where there is one single tax rate.
The perennial “FairTax” legislation, which has never come close to becoming law, envisions simplifying the tax code by scrapping the income tax, payroll tax, corporate taxes, gift taxes, and the death tax altogether and replacing them with a nationwide consumption tax on goods and services. The IRS as an entity would in turn be killed off as part of the plan.
Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in Iowa and every other primary state, used DeSantis’s support of such a proposal as a cudgel to attack him last year. A pro-Trump political action committee cut an ad attacking DeSantis’s support for the idea in May 2023.
“In Congress, Ron DeSantis pushed a 23% national sales tax where the middle class pays more,” the TV ad
proclaimed.
With the Iowa caucuses fast approaching, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said that he wants to see the IRS abolished and a so-called flat tax system introduced.
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