How simple can a taxation system be?

How should a future system of taxation be constructed? How simple can it be? For Prof. Hans-Wolfgang Arndt, Mannheim University, the Karlsruhe income tax proposal is a standard. Prof. Franz W. Wagner, Tübingen University, sees the greatest deficit in the discussion of a simplification of tax law in that "it does not tell the citizens that a strongly simplified tax system cannot assume the redistribution and stimulus functions of the present taxation system. If citizens were informed that far-reaching changes in the stimulus and redistribution mechanisms are the real problem of every tax reform, the catchword of tax simplification would presumably lose its ability to mobilise a consensus fairly quickly." Friedrich Merz, CDU/CSU parliamentary group, sees the goal of tax simplification as a "restoration of transparency. An understandable and transparent taxation law for taxpayers and tax administration achieves acceptance and legal security."