⚖️ Flat Tax System vs. Core GRT Plan: A Tax Reform Comparison

🏛️ SEAL SD Examines Your Options

At SealSD.com, we’re dedicated to helping South Dakotans understand the best path to tax freedom. The Core GRT Plan, part of the Maximum Liberty Plan (Plan 2), replaces all state taxes with a single 5% Gross Receipts Tax (GRT), generating $3.6 billion and saving you $3,000–$5,000 annually by eliminating property taxes. A flat tax system, often proposed as an alternative, would impose a uniform income tax rate on individuals and businesses while retaining other taxes like property and sales taxes. This page compares a hypothetical state-level flat tax system with the Core GRT Plan, focusing on their tax structures, financial impacts, and alignment with liberty-based principles, so you can see why the Core GRT Plan offers a more comprehensive solution for South Dakota.

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🔍 Tax Structure: How They Differ

The Core GRT Plan and a flat tax system take distinct approaches to taxation, with significant differences in their structure and scope:

• Core GRT Plan: Replaces all state taxes—sales taxes ($2.097 billion), property taxes ($1.6 billion), and other fees ($628.2 million)—with a single 5% GRT on business revenue ($72 billion base), generating $3.6 billion. Property taxes are eliminated entirely, and the GRT is paid by businesses, often lowering consumer costs through a pass-through (e.g., $1.00 on a $40 purchase vs. $2.60 sales tax) [Memory: April 16, 2025, 15:19].
• Flat Tax System: A hypothetical 5% flat income tax on individuals and businesses would tax all income at the same rate, regardless of earnings, while retaining existing property taxes, sales taxes, and other fees. South Dakota currently has no state income tax, so this would introduce a new tax layer without eliminating others.
• Key Difference: The Core GRT Plan consolidates all state taxes into one GRT, eliminating property taxes and simplifying the system, while a flat tax adds a new income tax burden on top of existing taxes, maintaining complexity and overreach.

Analogy for Clarity: The Core GRT Plan is like replacing all picnic fees with one $5 picnic cake fee—no more spot fees or snack fees, just one simple charge that covers everything. A flat tax is like adding a new $5 picnic entry fee while still charging for picnic spots and snacks, keeping the picnic bill long and complicated.

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💰 Financial Impact: Savings and Costs

The financial implications of the Core GRT Plan and a flat tax system vary widely in terms of savings, costs, and overall burden on South Dakotans:

• Core GRT Plan Savings: Eliminates $1.6 billion in property taxes state-wide, saving each household $3,000–$5,000 annually. For a $300,000 home in Sioux Falls, that’s $4,500 saved (1.5% rate). It also offers $200 residency rebates per person ($60 million total) and exemptions for small businesses, veterans, seniors, and military families ($32.5 million cost). Net gain for a Sioux Falls couple: $4,750 yearly (Page 10: How It Affects the Average Homeowner).
• Flat Tax System Costs: A 5% flat income tax on South Dakota’s estimated $67 billion personal income (2023, adjusted for growth) would generate $3.35 billion. For a household earning $67,000 (state median), this means a new $3,350 tax bill. Property taxes remain—$4,500 for that $300,000 Sioux Falls home—plus sales taxes on purchases. Total tax burden: $3,350 (flat tax) + $4,500 (property tax) = $7,850, with no rebates or exemptions.
• Key Difference: The Core GRT Plan saves you $3,000–$5,000 annually by eliminating property taxes and offers rebates, while a flat tax adds a $3,350 income tax burden on top of existing taxes, totaling $7,850—nearly doubling your tax load compared to the current system.

Analogy for Clarity: The Core GRT Plan clears your picnic spot fee, saving you $4,500, and gives you a $400 picnic gift card, leaving you $4,750 richer. A flat tax adds a $3,350 picnic entry fee while still charging $4,500 for your picnic spot—it’s like paying $7,850 to join a picnic that’s already expensive!

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🗽 Liberty-Based Principles: Aligning with South Dakota Values

The Core GRT Plan and a flat tax system differ in their alignment with liberty-based principles, which prioritize freedom from government overreach:

• Core GRT Plan: Eliminates property taxes, a direct form of overreach that threatens your home and financial freedom, as we’ve explored (Page 18: The Power of the People’s Free Will). It simplifies the tax system, reducing administrative burdens, and empowers citizens through SD-DOGE oversight (Page 15: What Happens When Representatives Fail to Honor Their Duty). This plan aligns with the Founding Fathers’ vision of liberty by minimizing taxation and maximizing autonomy.
• Flat Tax System: Introduces a new income tax in South Dakota, which currently has none, adding a layer of government intrusion into personal earnings. It retains property taxes, perpetuating overreach, and lacks the citizen-driven accountability of the Core GRT Plan. While a flat tax is simpler than a progressive income tax, it still increases the overall tax burden without addressing existing overreach, falling short of true liberty-based reform.
• Key Difference: The Core GRT Plan is a citizen-led, liberty-based initiative that eliminates property taxes and reduces government overreach, while a flat tax adds a new tax burden, maintaining complexity and failing to fully align with South Dakota’s values of limited government and individual freedom.

Analogy for Clarity: The Core GRT Plan kicks out the picnic bosses charging spot fees, making the picnic free and letting picnic friends watch over the rules—it’s a picnic of liberty! A flat tax invites a new picnic boss to charge an entry fee while keeping the old spot fees, not fully freeing you to enjoy the picnic your way.

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💡 Why the Core GRT Plan Wins: A Path to True Freedom

The Core GRT Plan offers a more comprehensive, liberty-focused solution compared to a flat tax system:

• Total Tax Relief: Eliminates all property taxes ($1.6 billion), saving you $3,000–$5,000 annually, while a flat tax adds a $3,350 income tax burden on top of existing taxes, increasing your load by $7,850.
• Simpler System: Replaces all state taxes with one 5% GRT, reducing complexity, while a flat tax retains property taxes, sales taxes, and other fees, adding a new layer of taxation.
• Citizen Empowerment: Driven by your free will through the ballot initiative process, with SD-DOGE ensuring accountability, unlike a flat tax’s top-down approach.
• Economic Impact: Frees up $1.6 billion in disposable income, boosting local spending and supporting industries like tourism ($4.96 billion), while a flat tax’s added burden reduces disposable income, stifling economic growth.

Analogy for Clarity: The Core GRT Plan throws open the picnic gates, clears all picnic fees, and lets you run the picnic with your picnic friends, making the picnic $4,750 richer for everyone. A flat tax adds a $3,350 entry fee while keeping the old $4,500 spot fee—it’s like paying $7,850 to join a picnic that’s still not free!

📂 Learn More

• 🌄 Our Vision for South Dakota
  The future we’re building — bold, free, and family-first.
• 📊 End Property Tax: GRT Plan
  How the 5% Gross Receipts Tax will replace property taxes — and why it works.
• 📈 Revenue Verification
  Ensuring every dollar is accounted for — transparency you can trust.
• 🛡️ Safeguards to Protect Homes
  No tricks, no traps — just locked-in protections you can count on.
• 🕵️ SD-DOGE: Our Government Watchdog
  Efficiency, oversight, and a watchdog that works for the people.
• 👉 Get the Facts
  Will Prices Go Up?: Debunk myths about price increases under the GRT.
• 🚜 Family Farms & Ranches
  How the GRT protects and empowers South Dakota’s agricultural backbone.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 For Our Kids’ Future
  Building a legacy of freedom and opportunity for the next generation.
• 🏛️ South Dakota First
  Prioritizing our people, our values, and our future — always.
• 🆕 What’s New?
  Stay updated on the latest developments and announcements.