I think the key phrase in this post, and what other commenters seem to be missing, and what the hard part of making any changes will be, is "without loopholes".

I think the key phrase in this post, and what other commenters seem to be missing, and what the hard part of making any changes will be, is "without loopholes". That is the reason the tax code is hard. It's also a small reason(1) wealthy people can manipulate the tax code to their advantage. I don't think it has anything to do with a graduated rate. Granted, a flat tax would allow employers to pay the tax and employees wouldn't have to file taxes, but if there were no loopholes in our current graduated tax system, the government could provide an online form that could have you fill out your taxes in < 5 minutes. (1) I said a small way because if we really want to get the super wealthy to pay more in taxes, a big way could change things is by making capital gains count as income. This is the reason someone like warren buffet pays 17% of his 46 million income, because it's all capital gains taxed at 15% (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/tax/article1996735.ece http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/tax/article1996735.ec...). I would be interested in seeing stats how most of the super wealthy (top .1%) make their money, but I would bet it's almost all capital gains.