U.S. Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. 26th District of Texas

I support a flat tax with no deductions other than personal exemption for up to Head of Household and 4 dependents. This should be such that folks that are poverty level with 4 kids pay no income tax. They still should pay Social Security and medicare. I am a conservative / libertarian but believe that people who are working hard and trying to make it should get a break. However, I do not think people having 4 or more children should get additional breaks for each child they produce. We should not have deductions for mortage, sales tax, college tuition because all we are doing with these deductions is creating more loopholes and tax code. Keep it simple. Personal deduction of $10,000/person up to 5 maximum. Max personal deduction would be $50,000 for 5 people. 4 people = $40,000 etc

I support National Sales tax as the only really fair way to capture legal and illegal money in this country. Do away with Income tax!!! No complicated and unfair.

Congressman Burgess, Whereas the simplicity of a flat tax would be a boon to many, it is often overlooked that taxation is not just a revenue generator for government but also a socioeconomic behavior policy in regards to how people will spend their money (businesses especially). Tax code is currently written to motivate entities with a good bit of discretionary capital to spend in a way that would forward the fiscal and policy agenda set forth by the government which is a tax and spend philosophy as of late. Business and individuals are being rewarded through tax loopholes to promote the government fiscal policy as it stands now. Simplifying the tax code would likely generate more revenue and cut the tax burden for those whose do not have so much discretionary capital hence the greater majority. However, the flat tax is hardly a new idea and one should ask why hasn't it already been implemented before now. I believe that people do not realize that not only are there government policy pushes and pulls to promulgate their agenda, but that there is an entire professional class in form of accountants/management consultants who thrive in a complex tax code environment and generate a high percentage of their business advising their clients. One of the big proverbial brick walls to enacting a flat tax is a resistance from these firms to being relegated to strictly managerial accounting roles and seeing a good portion of their consulting revenue dissipate as a result. In the world of special interest lobbies, what would your plan be to sway this group in particular? It is not just your fellow colleagues, promoting their own specialized brand of pork barrel politics that you have to reckon with. Thank you for considering my thoughts and question.

I believe in the flat tax, and wish that it was a true flat tax with no deductions whatsoever. I also believe that every American that works and makes money should pay taxes. If we did this, we would only need a flat tax rate of 10%. Make it happen Congressman, you are from the greatest state in the union after all...

I like the concept of flat tax especially when everyone is assessed the same. As we know, God has the 10% and made no allowances for position or amount of income involved. The whole issue of income tax came about when the government began to fund things out of the original intent of the Consitiution.

I like the concept of flat tax especially when everyone is assessed the same. As we know, God has the 10% and made no allowances for position or amount of income involved. The whole issue of income tax came about when the government began to fund things out of the original intent of the Consitiution.

My concern is how you would treat businesses and Corps.? I like the flat tax for individuals but by everyone paying their fair share, I bet we only need to tax at a 10 to15% rate. How would you deal with those who are retired and living off Social Secuirty, IRA's or Pensions? They would not have kids so their standard deductions would be less and and some how would effectively be paying more tax when they are at a age in life, when they need more money to sustain a decent quality of life.

Our tax laws are written by LAWYERS to profit LAWYERS. As Dr. Benjamin Carson said at the National Prayer Breakfast, "We have too many LAWYERS running our government." They are motivated by money - not what is in the best interest of the tax payer. If we adopted a flat tax system, think of the number of lawyers that would put out of business. If you have not heard Dr. Carson's speech given at the National Prayer Breakfast, please look it up on You Tube. The Christian pediatric neurosurgeon upstaged the Marxist community organizer. And watch Obama squirm in the face of truth and logic.

I have read HR1040 and fail to see how it will collect taxes from illegals, the underground economy (pimps, pushers, prostitutes, etc) and visitors to the country (we contribute to foreign tax systems when we visit them). Ignoring nearly $1/2 Trillion in potential annual revenue places a large burden on the rest of us and is irresponsible. I admire you for taking some action, but please read HR25 and see how The Fair Tax handles all objections while giving even scalawags skin in the game.