In light of President Bush’s plan to allow a standard deduction for all persons who pay for healthcare insurance (or receive insurance through an employer), today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is:
Should itemized deductions be eliminated completely in favor of a standard deduction?
I’ve always believed that the only “fair” tax cut would be raising the standard deduction. It could be raised high enough that itemizing would be a thing of the past. Raise it $10.000 and save the 10% bracket $1000 while saving the 28% bracket $2800. It would in effect be taking taxes off of the last dollar earned. Leave the itemizing option there if they want. I haven’t been able to use it in years.