Published January 13, 2015
President Bush says the United States should have a simpler tax system. Apparently he has found one he likes — Estonia's.
In a brief stop in the Baltic nation on Tuesday, Bush managed to tout Estonia's flat income tax three times.
"They've got a tax system here that is transparent, open and simple," Bush said in Tallinn after getting a look at how Estonian citizens can file their taxes online.
In a toast about an hour later to Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Bush said, "I am amazed to be in a country that has been able to effect a flat tax in such a positive way."
And before fielding reporters' questions with Ilves, Bush again praised Estonia's approach to taxation.
"I appreciate the fact that you got a flat tax, you got a tax system that's transparent and simple," he said.
Bush stopped in Estonia en route to a NATO summit in neighboring Latvia.
Back home, Bush has pledged to simplify the tax laws in the United States, which he calls a complicated mess. One idea is a flat tax, which taxes all income at a single rate and gets rid of deductions. Yet comprehensive reform of the U.S. tax system has gone nowhere in Congress.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/bush-impressed-with-estonias-flat-tax