Flat tax falls flat

Ex-Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlustý will be happy he doesn't get "credit" for the flat tax. Current Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek is eager to take ownership of the idea but has put together a proposal that will do the government more harm than good. His plan for a 15% flat personal-income tax rate will be demonized by the Left because it benefits mainly the rich, and it will disappoint the "rich" because it isn't really a flat tax. It expands the tax base to include the portion of social taxes paid by the employer, resulting in double taxation of this slice of unseen "income" and cutting the amount of tax due only slightly. Only those with income not subject to social taxes (due either to caps or to tax loopholes) will have reason to cheer. Kalousek could have achieved almost the same effect by changing a few tax rates in the existing law, but that wouldn't have been "revolutionary" enough.