Which one of the following, if true of countries that have gone from a graduated progressive tax system to a flat tax...

SamA on April 4, 2020

Hello @ChristianJM,

First, let's identify the position of Passage B. Basically, Author B is in favor of a graduated tax system over a flat tax.

What would Author B expect to happen if a graduated tax were replaced with a flat tax? If I'm making a prediction, I'd look at the last sentence of the passage. The author believes that a flat tax will put an unfair burden on the middle class. This is the strongest argument presented against the flat tax, so I predict that the answer will be something like "a greater burden on the middle class." Sure enough, this is given to us by answer choice D, which is the correct answer. Let's discuss the other answer choices.

A. The total amount of revenue never seemed to be the issue. Both authors seem to agree that either system can produce the same total amount (see the last sentence of both paragraphs.) This wouldn't support one system over another.

B. If simplicity is a good thing, this seems to go against passage B. At best, it does nothing to support passage B.

C. Author B's criticism of the flat tax is that it is unfair to the middle class. What high-income taxpayers believe is not particularly relevant.

E. The popularity of the graduated system in the legislature was never part of Author B's argument. We don't really care what the legislator's think. This might be small support for the graduated system, but it is not close to D.