Certainly if Romney is breaking any Federal Tax Laws he should be prosecuted to the full extent. If not then the tax code needs to be changed.
IRA-401K's etc. were all designed to promote tax free savings. If true, Mitt has taken it to a whole new level. While I don't think investment income should be taxed at the same rate income is, it shouldn't be tax free.
Look America has also purported itself as fair, where everyone is equal. Decide on a percentage and instill a flat tax with personal contributions to IRA/401K's capped at say $10K. No deductions. Married or not moot, investment income or not moot.
At a 20% flat tax with a contribution of 10% of salary allocated into a IRA/401K. The following scenarios would pan out:
Individual A: $22K in income 7K individual deduction (I think should be lower)
and $2.2K put into an IRA leaves a taxable income of $12.8K. At 20% individual A would pay $1,560 in taxes. An effective rate of 7%.
Individual B: $50K in income, putting away $5K, leaves a taxable income of $38K. At 20% they would pay $7,600. An effective rate of 15.2%
Mitt: 200 million in income putting away the max $10K and the $7K individual deduction leaves him with $199,983,000 in taxable income and a $39,966,000. An effective tax rate of 20%.
Mitt's payment would equal 27,000 individual A's and 5,000 individual B's.
Besides we could get rid of more than half the IRS and free up Federal courts for useful cases, like suing the States of Arizona and Florida.
