Rick Perry's "Cut, Balance and Grow Plan" Alternative 20 Percent Flat Tax

Rick Perry's "Cut, Balance and Grow Plan"

Rick Perry proposed an optional 20% flat tax that preserves mortgage interest, charitable and state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than $500,000 annually, and increases the standard deduction to $12,500 for individuals and dependents.

The Economist features a selection of evaluations.

An independent voter may agree with Reihan Salam's characterization in National Review that "Rick Perry’s proposal is not a flat tax. Rather, it is an alternative maximum tax or MAXTAX."

It would likely ease compliance costs for top earners but, as Len Burman writes in Forbes, "Millions of middle-income taxpayers will have to figure their taxes two ways to figure out which plan is better for them."

There are also the usual questions raised about how much revenue would be raised, what the deficit impact would be, and what would be cut in order to balance the budget.