Presidential candidate Herman Cain has made a splash with his 9-9-9 tax plan, which drew the focus of much of this week's Republican debate on the strength of its catchy simplicity. The plan would amount to a dramatic benefit to wealthy Americans and a greater burden on the poor and middle class, tax analysts said.

1 How would the plan work? It would scrap much of the current tax code and impose a 9 percent personal income tax, a 9 percent business tax and a 9 percent national sales tax. Taxes on investments would be eliminated or reduced, and payroll taxes also would be eliminated along with virtually all itemized deductions -- such as a child credit. It would eliminate the capital gains tax and the inheritance tax. It would require the poor to pay the same rate that would be paid by the richest Americans, whose incomes are currently taxed at 35 percent.

2 What supporters say: The plan is proving a hit with voters who say they're fed up with loopholes and tax breaks for corporations, and with many Tea Party activists who want government out of their affairs. The allure of Cain's plan is similar to that of previous proposals like the flat tax. "The tax system as it is is so byzantine, so intentionally complicated," said John Nolte, a conservative blogger. "Americans understand that the simplest solutions are usually the best solutions."

3 How would it affect the poor? For starters, about 30 million of the poorest households pay neither income taxes nor Social Security or Medicare levies. "So for them ... you are adding both a 9 percent sales tax and 9 percent income tax. So we know they will be worse off," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Edward Kleinbard, a University of Southern California tax expert, said: "The absence of current law's package of a standard deduction, personal exemptions, child credit, child care credit and the earned-income tax credit means a huge tax hike for the working poor and a substantial tax increase on the labor income of the middle class."

4 How would it affect the wealthy? "People at the top end pay 20 or 21 percent in income and payroll taxes now," Williams said. "This plan zeroes out their payroll tax and suddenly their tax is down to 9 percent. Then, like everyone else, they pay 9 percent on what they spend. But the rich don't spend everything they earn."

5 Is there an argument for giving breaks to the wealthy? "By lowering the tax burden on the wealthy, the plan will encourage more investment and spending," said Alan Auerbach, director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at the University of California, Berkeley.

6 How likely is it that the plan would be adopted? Experts say that adoption of 9-9-9 would mark the most radical federal tax change since the expansion of the income tax in the 1940s. It would upset the vast array of social policy that has been built into the tax code, removing tax breaks for home purchases and college tuition. For that reason, many say its adoption would be highly unlikely, even if Cain were elected president.

7 His ultimate goal: Cain talks about the plan as a concise, easy-to-understand plan to reform the federal tax code, but it is envisioned as the middle step toward eliminating the IRS and replacing federal taxes with a national sales tax.

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