Ted Cruz Wants a Flat Tax. Can It Work?

The problem with the public’s supposed support for a flat tax is that the same poll often shows the contradictory demand for higher taxes on the wealthy.

Federal tax forms are distributed at the offices of the Internal Revenue Service November 1, 2005 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images

In an address at Liberty University kicking off his presidential campaign, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called for the abolition of the IRS and the replacement of the tax system with a simple flat tax. The idea is an old one, and on paper it has the support of the American public, but among all of his proposals is it the most unrealistic. 

A 2014 poll found that 62 percent of Americans favored a flat tax.