Gates says billionaires should pay 'significantly' more taxes
People talk about a &#x27;flat tax&#x27;, where everyone pays the same rate, as being fair. But is mathematical equality really fair?<p>* If we want a truly flat tax, everyone would pay the exact same amount. In the U.S., that would be roughly $14,000 from each adult to cover all funding. Obviously, that&#x27;s absurd.<p>* Or we could use the &#x27;flat tax&#x27; (or &#x27;equal rate&#x27;) described above, where everyone pays the same rate. In the U.S., that would be very roughly a 17% tax on all income, corporate or individual.<p>But I don&#x27;t think the &#x27;equal rate&#x27; tax above is really equal. If you make $10,000 in a year, $1,700 is a much larger blow than $1.7 million is if you make $10 million.<p>* What is fair, IMHO, is equal sacrifice. It&#x27;s harder to quantify, but the taxes paid by people making $10 million, or $100,000 or $10,000 should cause roughly equivalent pain. It depends on the individual&#x27;s situation and we&#x27;d never do it perfectly, but maybe there is an economic theory of utility or quality of life that could be used as a proxy; maybe we should subtract necessities and calculate it based on discretionary income.