the competitive tax plan is an approach to taxation, suggested in the united states, that would impose a 10–15% value added tax (vat) and reduce personal and corporate income taxes. the plan was created by michael j. graetz, professor at columbia law school and a former deputy assistant secretary of the treasury for tax policy. graetz states that the plan would generate enough revenue so that families with $100,000 of annual income or less — almost 90% of all current filers — would not have to pay income taxes or file tax returns. the competitive tax plan would provide a new payroll tax offset to replace the earned income tax credit and to protect low and moderate income workers from any tax increase under the new system. under the initial proposal, households with an annual income of more than $100,000 would be taxed at a flat 25% rate and the corporate income tax rate would be reduced to 25%. graetz argues that reducing the corporate tax rate "would make the united states an extremely attractive nation for corporate investments for both u.s. citizens and foreign investors". in 2013, graetz presented an updated version of his plan for 2015.