For the last several years, there has been a lot of discussion of the so-called "flat tax" income tax. I think that such a system would be unfair, but not in the ways you may think.
The proposed flat tax rate would be 17% (or some other value) that would be applied to everyone. As you know, our present federal income taxes are based on a progressive set of tax rates that increase according to taxable income. The flat tax proposal would do away with the progressive nature of the tax system. To many people, this represents an unfair burden on the poor because they have a smaller percentage of their income remaining after the necessities with which to pay taxes.
I feel however that taxation based on income is unfair on general principles. And apparently so did our founding fathers because the Constitution did not allow income taxes until the 16th Amendment was passed in 1913.
Our nation is based on the idea that all men are to be treated equally under the law. However we accept the single exception that the more productive you are, the more you should pay the state. We accept this arrangement with the government but nowhere else. Imagine, for example, you walked into store and the items on the shelves were priced according to your income, would you accept that? Did your last car salesman drop the price of the car you wanted because you didn't make enough money to buy it?
If we are each to receive equal protection under the law, shouldn't we each have to pay the same price for it?
A Really Flat Tax
I believe that income should not be the basis of taxation. I believe that each citizen should be treated equally by the state. Under this model the calculation of your tax bill becomes very simple:
The amount of money spent by the government divided by the number of citizens equals your share of the expense.
We have our crushing national debt because there is no accountability for spending. This is accomplished two ways. First the government is allowed to borrow money. This means that it can spend without raising taxes thus hiding the affect of its spending. Second, since taxes are based on income there is always the temptation to say "we'll finance this bloated government program by finding some rich guy and soaking him".
Under a "citizenship tax" system, there is a direct correspondence between spending and taxes. If the government wants to give a plump subsidy to the lint farmers it can explain to its citizens that their tax bill will increase by $8.43 to cover it, to which the citizens will probably respond "Hell No!" It will be possible to price shop politicians. Each new idea they have will be quantifiable. This would allow each citizen to decide the personal worth of every government program.
Imagine that you no longer had to file a tax return every April 15th, that you could use your money anyway you wanted to without having to worry about the tax consequences of your decisions. Imagine that every bit of your money was really yours and that your money (and how you choose to use it) was none of the government's business.