That isn't going to happen in the US because all those loopholes represent some politician flexing his power. No, I'm not exaggerating. I think in some of the

That isn't going to happen in the US because all those loopholes represent some politician flexing his power. No, I'm not exaggerating. I think in some of the Nordic countries they've done harmonization, but that can only occur when a technical solution is possible, and US politician want to retain political control of funding. Don't get me started about AMT. About a decade ago there was a poll of House members. All of them said they couldn't do their own taxes because of AMT, except one who was basically poor. For non-US readers, the US federal tax code consists of 2 parallel rules, regular and Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). AMT was originally supposed to catch high-income earners, but after decades of inflation, catches basically anybody with a 6-figure salary, depending on the tax year. If you want your head to explode, read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_minimum_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_minimum_tax