Tithes and offerings: our new tax code

I’ve got the answer. I didn’t come up with the idea. It has been right in front of us for millennia. For those who don’t like taxes and government intrusions, it’s perfect.

The plan has a tiny risk of mixing church and state. If people have problems with the Ten Commandments, they won’t like this idea either. If they struggle with Moses, they will certainly choke on Malachi.

So here is the deal. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” For the non-believers, skip the robbing of God intro and just focus on the tithes and offerings part.

For the sake of tradition, let’s go with a tithe of 10 percent. Now let’s make that our national tax. It’s simple. It’s divine. With that tax rate, you eliminate deductions, loopholes and tax credits.

It beats the IRS. It is a ton better than other versions of the tax code where it says on line one to write down all you earned. On line two, “Send line one to Uncle Sam.”

Because taxes would be so low, there wouldn’t be any reason to deduct even for the contributions to charity. Giving to charity would be truly charity and not a tax write-off. Deductions for owning a home and paying a mortgage would be gone, but then in this Great Recession so have millions of homeowners.

The one problem is a 10 percent tithe tax is regressive. That means the poor, the widow and her fellow destitutes, pay relatively more than the rich. If a single mom with two children earns $100 a week, paying $10 in tax is tougher than a wealthy individual making $100,000 a week having to cough up $10,000. While it is more money to the government in absolute amount, the affluent with the remaining $90,000 would have sufficient for their needs.

Meanwhile, the kids and mom with their $90 would have to figure out the rent, gas, coats for the cold winter, doctor visits, car payments, if they have one, and find the Kraft mac and cheese on sale.

Of course, since corporations are now legally humanized to a status of a living, breathing person, they also need to pay their 10 percent.

It is not totally flawless. With so much of our country’s wealth concentrated in the hands of so few individuals and families, this regressive approach will only exacerbate the demonic divide between the moneyed and everybody else. Besides, if the growing poor can just give pennies, we may not have enough for all our national needs.