Also I did full math and it was a flat tax on all income (wage, investment, everything) it would need to be 24%. That's before state taxes and such this is just federal. This means that if you make minimum wage and work 40 hours a week 52 weeks a year you would take home a whopping 11,460% a year. That's why below the poverty line. The line that's already incredibly lower then what's required to survive.