By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
US Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) has supported switching our complicated current inome tax to a simple flat tax. His Democratic challenger, Ron Crumpton opposes a flat tax.
Crumpton said, “Once again this year, like every other year he has been in the Senate, Richard Shelby has proposed legislation that would replace our current tax system with his version of a flat tax.”
According to Crumpton, “The fundamental problem of a flat tax is that if your tax plan results in the upper class paying less in taxes, you have to raise the amount of taxes paid by everyone else to make up for the lost revenue.
Crumptom claimed that under Shelby’s plan, “The richest 1 percent would receive an average tax reduction of $200,000 per year and the next richest 4 percent would see an average tax reduction of $5800.”
Crumpton claims that, “Everyone else would see their taxes increase,” because “The federal government would lose $138 billion in tax revenue each year.” Crumpton also warned that, “It would eliminate the dedicated funding stream for Social Security and Medicare, funding for those programs would be subject to the whims of our congress.”
The Alabama Democratic Party nominee said, “It is simple, Shelby wants to reduce the taxes on the rich by raising them on everyone else.” “It is time for the people of Alabama to end Shelby’s reign in Washington, and elect a senator who is true to Alabama and not the political fat cats that fund his campaign.”
Sen. Shelby is the sponsor of Senate Bill S.929 the “Simplified, Manageable, and Responsible Tax (SMART) Act.” Since his first election to the Senate in 1986, Senator Shelby has been an advocate of the flat tax, introducing similar legislation each Congress.
Sen. Shelby said in a statement last year, “On Tax Day, the American people are reminded that our nation’s tax code is unnecessarily complex, confusing, and inefficient. The SMART Act is a straightforward solution that would require taxpayers to only file a simple postcard size return, which would save Americans time and money. The SMART Act would also allow businesses to redirect resources away from tax compliance and instead focus on expanding their businesses and creating jobs.”
According to Shelby, the SMART Act establishes a flat income tax of 17 percent on all income. The only exemptions would be personal exemptions of: $14,480 for a single person; $18,490 for a head of household; $28,960 for a married couple filing jointly; and $6,240 for each dependent.
Senator Shelby easily defeated four opponents in the Republican Primary. Ron Crumpton defeated Charles Nana in the Democratic Primary.
The people of Alabama will decide between the two in November.
