IRS: Nearly 1,500 millionaires paid no federal income tax in 2009

[Grace62]

Even the great acolytes of the flat tax: Steve Forbes, FreedomWorks, the Heritage Foundation, etc., include standard deductions, marital status, and deductions for children. The rate they use is 17%. Some also consider a minimum income amount below which you are not taxed at all, or taxed at a lower rate.
So even among its most ardent and true fans, the realities set in.

Here's the FreedomWorks "flat tax" calculator. I ran my numbers and got a tax amount about 40% higher than what I pay now.
I'll take the deductions and spend a few hours with the 1040, thanks anyway.

http://www.freedomworks.org/flattax/index.php