Passage 1
Most people agree that taxes must be paid. Government couldn’t run without money. But people argue about how taxes should be collected.
Now the government works with a “progressive tax”. Not everyone pays the same percentage of his salary in taxes. Poor people are in a low tax bracket. They pay the smallest percentage of income in taxes. Middle-income workers pay a larger percentage than the poor. And the rich fall into the high tax brackets. Few rich people like the progressive tax.
The government took a poll. Among other people, the government talked to Ray Mathers and Eve Winick. “Let’s change to a flat rate tax,” Says Ray Mathers. “Everyone should be taxed the same percentage. It’s fair. And it’s easy to figure out.” Mathers is president of Trig Computer Company. He makes over $80,000 a year. “I don’ t want a flat rate income tax,” says Eve Winick. Winick is a grammar school teacher. Her school is in a poor neighborhood. She makes $14,000 a year. “I don’t care if it’s easier to figure out. What I want to know is, would I pay less tax?” Winick worries about her students’ parents. “Some of them can hardly support themselves. Why should they pay heavier taxes? They’re the people who need government services.”
Mathers thinks a flat rate would help in the long run. “The country could lower taxes after a while. See, if I paid fewer taxes, I’d save money. I’d put that money into my business and hire more people. Those people could pay taxes. Everybody would be better off.”
33.The people who are presently supposed to pay the highest percentage of their income in taxes are the _________.