By Alabama Public Radio
Washington, DC – U-S Senator Richard Shelby says he will reintroduce flat tax legislation this year. He says he'll likely do so before the April 15th tax filing deadline. Shelby's plan would abolish the current Internal Revenue Service code. It would direct a certain percentage of everyone's income to the federal government. There would be some provisions for low-income residents, and would assure that a family of four would not be taxed at all if it earns less than 36-thousand-600 dollars. But critics say the flat tax is regressive because poorer taxpayers would send the government a much higher proportion of their income than wealthy ones.