Be civil in your response show some emotional intelligence. Specifically I said a flat tax on all incomes, that would include eliminating CapGains loop holes; specifically I said "over the poverty line" to address those who are resource poor. Further a VAT is just another complexity that add those loop holes in an already complicated tax code- I have direct knowledge of a VAT system . Complexity provides the "cracks" that the wealthy use to legally shelter taxable income.