Flat Tax Proposal Not Fully Reported

Re “Forbes, Flat Tax a Hit at Fund-Raiser,” Jan. 11:

One of the main points of the address in Irvine by Steve Forbes was his desire to replace the very complicated federal income tax code with a flat tax.

The article states, “His plan would tax all earned income at 17%. . . .” It very cleverly omits a further statement by Forbes that each person would have a basic exemption of $13,000 and each child under 18 a $5,000 exemption before any tax would be due. Thus, a man and wife with two children would have a basic exemption of $36,000 before any tax would begin.

You then pursue the usual media position by saying this flat tax could be of great benefit to the wealthy, who provide businesses and jobs, and leave the impression that the lower wage earner would be penalized. This is not true.

IRVIN C. CHAPMAN

Costa Mesa