The bow ties that are taking D.C. by storm

Eliot Payne started sewing his own bow ties and eventually turned it into a business.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"I got compliments every time I wore it," he said. "But when I looked [around], I didn't see any I really liked. They were very traditional looking, mostly striped or patterned silk."

So he started making his own on his girlfriend's sewing machine.

"First, I had to teach myself how to sew," Payne said. He sought out unique materials like "small batches of cloth with unusual textures, like ultrasuede, and some vintage fabrics."

Related: 7 hot businesses to start now

Sales of old-school neckties have shrunk as workplaces get more casual, but bow ties "have become a fashion statement," said Lauren Rothman, head of Washington-based consulting company Styleauteur and author of Style Bible: What to Wear to Work. "Guys in their twenties and thirties, especially, want to wear something to the office that shows off their personal style."

Though Payne started sewing his own bow ties in 2009, he didn't start Accoutre until a few years later, and even then, it was a side gig. But in early 2013, Payne lost his job as part of the government's $84.5 billion spending cuts and suddenly he had a lot more time to devote to his business.

At first, Payne's marketing was up close and personal: He'd carry an extra tie in his pocket and give it to anyone who asked about his own.

"People would come up to me on the street and say, 'Can you teach me how to tie one of those?'," he said. "Showing people how was great word-of-mouth advertising."

It helped that Accoutre's fabrics and patterns are a far cry from their stodgy forefathers: One of the bestsellers is a leopard-print tie dubbed "Bad Kitty."

The company's D.C. base also made it stand out against competitors.

"There are so few fashion companies [in D.C.], said Payne. "If you have one, you're kind of a local celebrity."

Related: From farmers' market to mass market

These days, Payne sells his bow ties mainly through Accoutre's website for $60 to $70 apiece. Payne still makes all the ties himself -- "I tried hiring people to do it, but that didn't work out" -- and, while he declined to give revenue or profit figures, he said sales have more than tripled in the past three years.

Payne is now teaming up with menswear blogger Paul Beirne to start a new line of men's suits. To be called Paul Eliot, it's aimed at the same style-minded crowd that has flocked to Accoutre's bow ties (and will be largely funded by cash from the existing business). The new line is scheduled to launch next fall.

"It won't be a traditional suit. It's a lot more unstructured and casual," Payne said. "Paul and I both wanted to design something with some edge to it -- something that we'd like to wear ourselves."

First Published: April 4, 2014: 7:23 AM ET

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The top 1% and what they pay

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Here is the breakdown:

It takes at least $389,000 to make the club: That was the minimum threshold of adjusted gross income in 2011, the most recent year for which the IRS has final data.

In 2001, you had to make at least $306,635 to make the cut. But if you factor in inflation, that's roughly the same amount as in 2011.

The minimum threshold was much higher in 2007, just ahead of the economic collapse. That year you needed $426,439 to be in the top 1%.

The 1% as a group pay a bigger share of income taxes than their share of adjusted gross income: As a group, the top 1% earned nearly 19% of all adjusted gross income reported in 2011 and paid 35% of all federal income taxes.

Of course, adjusted gross income doesn't measure all income, only what must be reported for taxes. So, for instance, it doesn't include income that those in the top 1% may have made from tax-exempt investments, such as municipal bonds.

Nor do federal income taxes represent any income group's entire tax burden.

The effective tax rate of the top 1% was 23.5%: The average tax rate paid by these high-income households was 23.5% -- which represents the percent of their income they paid in federal income taxes.

That's below the 27.6% they paid in 2001 -- a high point for the decade that followed.

Related: Who pays most income taxes? People 45 and up

Some people may think those rates sound low.

But they're still well above the average tax rate paid by others.

For instance, the top 50% of filers -- who had an AGI of at least $34,823 -- paid an average tax rate of just under 14%.

Who's in the top 1%: There's been remarkable consistency over the years in terms of which professions typically occupy the top 1%.

Analyzing IRS data from 1979 through 2005, tax researchers at Williams College and at the Treasury Department found that five occupations accounted for the lion's share of the top 1% again and again.

They were executives at non-financial companies, financial professionals, doctors, lawyers and an occupational category that lumps together computer, math, engineering and technical jobs in non-financial firms.

Not surprisingly, these same five occupational groups also account for the majority of folks in the top 0.1%.

At the same time, membership in the top 1% isn't a decades-long experience for everyone. That's because a sizeable number of households are catapulted into the group thanks to one-time event.

This story is part of a CNNMoney series exploring Americans' real tax burden. We'll look at who pays the most and who pays the least; and why two people with the same income can have very different tax bills. We'd love to hear how you feel about your tax burden at #YourEconomy.

First Published: April 4, 2014: 7:26 AM ET

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Facebook's new face recognition knows you from the side

New technology developed by Facebook researchers uses 3-D modeling to identify the subject of an image.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Facebook (FB, Fortune 500) researchers published a paper last month in which they detailed the capabilities of a new artificial intelligence system known as "DeepFace." When asked whether two photos show the same person, DeepFace answers correctly 97.25% of the time; that's just a shade behind humans, who clock in at 97.53%.

Facebook already uses facial-recognition technology to suggest tags on photos uploaded by users; Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) has similar technology for its Google+ social network. But DeepFace represents a big step forward.

Most current facial-recognition software struggles with images that don't include clear, frontal views of their subjects. That's not the case with DeepFace, which creates 3-D models of the faces in photos and then analyzes them using artificial-intelligence technology known as "deep learning."

Deep learning systems mimic the structure of neurons in the brain to analyze large data sets and draw connections. The DeepFace system conducts its analysis based on more than 120 million different parameters.

All this adds up to a substantial improvement on current state-of-the-art facial-recognition systems, the researchers said.

Related: Where your face is being tracked

For now, it's not clear how -- or if -- Facebook will use DeepFace. The technology remains "theoretical research," said Facebook spokeswoman Lydia Chan.

"[W]e don't currently use the techniques discussed in the paper on Facebook," she said.

But it's easy to see how more accurate facial recognition could be a boon for technology and marketing companies that rely on knowing your identity -- and a potential nightmare for privacy advocates.

Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) has already developed digital signs that use facial-detection cameras and software to determine a consumer's age and gender and then tailor ads accordingly. Law enforcement agencies, meanwhile, have been been experimenting with facial recognition programs for investigation and surveillance.

More sophisticated software could mean individually targeted ads and the ability of governments to track the movements of citizens in public.

Related: Cameras on cops, coming to a town near you

The Federal Trade Commission issued recommendations on the use of facial recognition by private companies back in 2012, calling for consumers to be informed of its use and given the choice to opt out.

But the American Civil Liberties Union said these guidelines skirted the heart of the issue, which is whether anonymity in public "will come to an end through the use of face recognition technology and ever-more-pervasive video surveillance."

The Facebook researchers said in their paper that society will have to deal with these questions as the technology advances.

"The social and cultural implications of face recognition technologies are far reaching, yet the current performance gap in this domain between machines and the human visual system serves as a buffer from having to deal with these implications," the researchers wrote.

The DeepFace system, they added, "has closed the majority of the remaining gap."

First Published: April 4, 2014: 8:02 AM ET

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Homebuyers getting priced out in cities across U.S.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

"Many big metros are incredibly hot sellers' markets right now," said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow. Nationwide, home prices were up 13% in the 12 months through January, according to the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. But in cities like Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego, prices have climbed by as much as 20% or more.

Related: 'I've been priced out of my housing market'

Add to that the fact that mortgage rates have climbed by almost one percentage point to 4.3% over the past 12 months. That means a buyer who gets a $200,000, 30-year mortgage now with 20% down would pay $896 month, 25% more than what a borrower would pay a year ago.

Even those who have no problem affording a home on their own are having a hard time closing the deal.

Helen Cittadino bid $600,000 in cash on an 890 square-foot two-bedroom condo in Palo Alto, Calif. -- a $20,000 premium to the seller's $580,000 listing price. And she was still outmatched by a higher all-cash offer.

"What's crazy is how many people here are capable of putting in all-cash offers," said Cittadino.

Nationwide, about 35% of all offers were in cash in February, a nearly 30% increase from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.

Related: Buy vs. rent: What you'll pay in 10 biggest cities

In the Bay Area, the cash is coming from deep-pocketed tech workers. In New York, Wall Street workers, flush with bonus checks, and foreign buyers looking to park assets, are paying with cash. Meanwhile, South Americans have been buying up real estate in South Florida as a safe haven for their money. In February, more than 71% of sales in the Miami area were all-cash deals.

All of these cash buyers are picking up what little housing there is available in these hot markets. New home construction is still well below normal levels, which has kept inventory tight.

Making matters worse: many prospective sellers are waiting to put their homes on the market for fear they won't be able to buy a home to move into.

Related: Cost of living -- how far will my salary go in another city?

As housing becomes more expensive some worrisome trends that occurred during the bubble years are re-emerging, said Humphries. These include a greater reliance on non-traditional financing, like low-downpayment loans and adjustable-rate mortgages, and a greater pressure to move further away from urban job centers in order to find affordable housing.

Jeff Cuthbertson and his wife have bid on more than a dozen homes in Austin, Texas over the past several years and have been outbid on every one.

"We have been priced out of the market -- literally," he said. "Now we are planning a move, probably to North Carolina or Tennessee."

First Published: April 3, 2014: 6:04 AM ET

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ECB ignores calls to tackle deflation risk

ECB President Mario Draghi was in Athens this week. Greece is one of a handful of European countries where prices are falling as companies seek to restore competitiveness.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

The ECB decided Thursday to keep its main interest rate at 0.25%, the record low level it has held since November last year.

Eurozone inflation fell to 0.5% in March, its lowest level since November 2009, fueling speculation that the ECB may act to stimulate the economy. It targets inflation of just below 2% in the medium term.

New surveys of purchasing managers suggest the region's economic recovery remains intact, with activity expanding for the ninth month in a row.

But they also reflect the intense pressure on companies to cut prices in the face of anemic growth and an unemployment rate that has barely moved from its crisis peak of 12%.

"Prices charged by manufacturers fell for the first time in seven months and charges levied for services were cut at a stronger rate, having fallen continually over the past 28 months," commented Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

The International Monetary Fund, among others, continues to warn that a prolonged period of very low inflation in Europe could suppress demand and jobs, creating an obstacle to an acceleration in the global economy.

"More monetary easing, including through unconventional measures, is needed in the euro area to raise the prospects of achieving the ECB's price stability objective," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Wednesday.

A strong euro isn't helping. The currency has climbed steadily over the past 12 months and is now worth about $1.38, after touching its highest level since October 2011 last month. That's making life harder for the region's exporters and adding to downward pressure on prices by cutting the cost of imported goods.

ECB President Mario Draghi and other central bank policymakers have been sounding more dovish in recent weeks, with references to negative deposit rates -- effectively charging banks for parking excess cash with the ECB -- and Fed-style quantitative easing, or buying assets.

But their remarks have been seen as an attempt to talk down the currency -- with little effect -- rather than as preparing the way for aggressive action just yet.

First Published: April 3, 2014: 7:55 AM ET

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More new records for stocks?

Click the chart for more markets data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

As widely expected, the ECB said it will keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0.25%. But the central bank is facing growing pressure to do more to stimulate the eurozone economy as risks of deflation rise and the euro remains strong.

To that end, investors will be listening closely to what ECB President Mario Draghi says in a press conference for clues about whether the ECB will take further steps to prop up the economy.

European markets were mostly lower in afternoon trading following the announcement. But with futures still pointing to a higher open in the U.S., it's possible that the S&P 500 could hit another new all-time high and that the Dow, which fell just short of a closing peak Wednesday, could do so as well.

Related: Fear & Greed Index back in greed mode

Investors are also getting ready for Friday's March jobs report. They'll get another readout on the labor market Thursday when the Labor Department reports the latest figures on jobless claims.

In corporate news, Google issued new shares late Wednesday as part of the tech giant's long-anticipated 2 for 1 stock split. The new class C shares will begin trading Thursday under the ticker, "GOOG," and will come with no voting rights. Old Google class A shares will trade under the new symbol "GOOGL," and will retain their voting rights.

Shares of both classes of Google should begin trading at around $570 -- roughly half the value of Wednesday's closing price.

Tesla (TSLA) stock rose slightly in premarket trading. The stock surged late Wednesday on news that it's appealing New Jersey's decision to ban direct car sales in the state.

Yelp (YELP)was down slightly ahead of the market open after the Wall Street Journal reported that the review site receives around six subpoenas each month, often relating to business owners suing the company. Shares of Yelp fell more than 5% on Wednesday.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech 30

Asian markets ended mixed, shrugging off news of a mini-stimulus package in China. After an initial boost, the Shanghai Composite closed 0.7% lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished narrowly firmer.

First Published: April 3, 2014: 5:32 AM ET

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Gmail at 10: How Google dominated e-mail

It wasn't the first, but since day one, Gmail has always been the best email service.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Gmail accomplished the tricky feat of staying ahead of the competition technologically while growing to become the world's largest email service.

Boasting more than 500 million users, Google's (GOOAV) mail service is much more than a service to many, it's damn near a religion. (For proof of that, just look at the status updates on any social network during a Gmail outage.)

But Gmail wasn't born in pioneering days of email, nor was it the first email service to go mainstream. So why is so dominant now?

It's because Gmail solved the most glaring email problems, starting with storage and search.

Related: 10 Gmail innovations

For years, Gmail blew rivals out of the water with the entire gigabyte of storage it offered. When Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) was finally forced to react, it offered a measly 100 megabytes in response.

Gmail's search was a revelation. Having the power of Google's Web search in your inbox not only made life easier, but it legitimately saved time.

But Gmail didn't just cruise on the momentum of having a game changing product. Gmail maintained its status as the most innovative even after attaining monolithic status.

Gmail took the mobile experience seriously even before Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone existed. It added user-centric features, such as auto-save for unfinished emails and the priority inbox, which automatically surfaces only the most important emails. And most importantly, it has integrated Gmail with the rest of Google's services.

Google's chat, calendar and productivity apps began as part of Gmail. In the days before Android, Chrome and apps, Gmail was the intersection for all things Google -- even more than the search engine itself.

Related: Why Gmail and other e-mail services aren't really free

Gmail has never been a static product, and updates come both as a stream of little fixes or big rollouts of major new features. This has been as important as anything in keeping Gmail in good standing with its users. It never feels dated and it never feels lacking.

And when Google realizes that users despise some aspect of the service, it hasn't been scared to make changes.

That said, Gmail's 10 years haven't been without its rough patches. Gmail's redesigns haven't always been well received, and the new tabbed inbox that filters out listserv and promotional emails have confused some users.

Privacy has also been a concern, especially with Google's disastrous attempt in February 2010 to launch Buzz, a social network within Gmail. Google also bungled a change to its terms of service in 2012, which redefined the way in which it can use the data it collects via Gmail and other apps.

But to Google's credit, it has at least tried to be transparent about what information it collects from Gmail and how it advertises to users.

Have services such as Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) Exchange and BlackBerry (BBRY) Mail offered greater reliability and security? Yes. But Gmail has been catching up -- and it offers more features that everyday email users care about.

Email is arguably the least pleasant part the internet. That Gmail has made that experience exponentially less dreadful says a lot about why it's so integral to many of our lives.

First Published: April 1, 2014: 7:01 AM ET

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HTC One M8 review: Beautifully better

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The HTC (HTCKF) One M8 is bigger and faster than last year's M7 model. The M8 has a larger, five-inch screen, a speedier quad-core Snapdragon processor, and a new rear-camera technology which makes use of two lenses instead of one.

But the design of the HTC One M8 is the main attraction with this phone.

Design: Last year's M7 model was flashier, with stark angles and a silver and white color scheme that really stood out. The M8 is toned down in both regards, utilizing a darker gunmetal gray and black color scheme, rounding out the edges, and moving to a rear shell that's machined from a single piece of aluminum.

It's fundamentally the same design -- which is to say incredibly solid and premium feeling. But the phone is ergonomically more satisfying without the sharp edges of last year's model.

The main problem with the new HTC One is that it's just too big. Last Year's HTC One was already pushing the limits of one-handed comfort with a smaller screen. Even compared to other five-inch phones, the HTC one borders on unwieldy.

Related: HTC One M8 is the most beautiful smartphone

It's big for a reason: the phone has very good quality stereo speakers adorning both sides of the screen. But for me, designing the phone to be as small as the display will allow would make a bigger difference in my day-to-day life than improved sound from the built-in speakers. (Aren't we all using headphones and Bluetooth speakers anyways?)

Camera: It's not as flashy as the phone's casing, but the new camera on the M8 tech is appealing as well. One of the lenses is permanently tasked with gathering depth information from every image captured, which not only makes the M8's auto-focus much, much faster, but it allows for the camera to more deftly apply effects to your photos.

In general, this camera provides no huge leap in image quality -- the sensor is very similar to the one found in the M7. But the M8's camera lets you have more fun with photos. You can more easily and accurately add light 3-D effects, and you can make select parts of an image black and white while keeping the rest in color.

What the camera doesn't do, as HTC would like you to believe, is refocus images. It can take a photo that's 100% in focus and apply a blur effect to specific parts of the image to emphasize someone or something, but it can't refocus a blurry image, or change the perspective of the image if the camera was already able to isolate a single object in focus.

Performance: HTC has this phone running in peak form, with every aspect of the software functioning in a responsive, silky smooth manner. From Web browsing, to gaming, to video playback, the M8 was more than up to the task, even with the HTC Sense user interface running on top of Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android mobile operating syste.

But HTC also took time to consider some little details that help make a big difference. Like the Moto X and Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone 5S, the M8 has all of it's sensors optimized and running on a dedicated co-processor, which not only saves battery life, but also allows them to always be on and collecting data.

That allows for useful, thoughtful features like being able to double tap the screen to wake the phone up. Or letting apps determine where you are and what you're doing. Or even just letting fitness tracking apps, such as FitBit's use your phone as an activity tracker.

Battery: Speaking of battery life, it's quite good. Most people should find themselves able to get through an entire day with average use. If you're streaming audio and video, or constantly browsing the internet, you'll probably have to recharge more than once a day.

Software: HTC refined and expanded its Sense software to offer more to users. The interface has been slightly scaled back so that the social media and news aggregation "BlinkFeed" feature that was prominent on the M7 isn't quite so central to the main experience of using the M8. And BlinkFeed itself has been fleshed out so that app developers, and not just media outlets, will be able to integrate their app content into the stream.

All things considered, the Sense interface isn't bad. I'd even say its attractive, and I wouldn't mind using this if Google's own design wasn't so good. The one complaint with the custom software is that the keyboard doesn't register taps all that accurately. Luckily, you can go to the Google Play store and just install the default Android keyboard. (Highly recommended!)

Conclusion: If you're OK with carrying a big phone around, the HTC One M8 is about as nice and powerful an Android phone that you'll find right now, and is definitely worth its price tag. It is good enough to go toe-to-toe with the iPhone 5S and Galaxy S5. But if you're already satisfied with your iPhone or Galaxy S, the HTC One wouldn't necessarily give you a compelling reason to switch.

First Published: April 1, 2014: 7:08 AM ET

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Stocks: Signs of spring?

U.S. stocks closed higher Monday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

U.S. stock futures were higher Tuesday, and most global indexes were firmly in the green.

On Tuesday, Investors will get data on manufacturing and auto sales for the latest clues on the health of the U.S. economy, after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen said Monday that the Federal Reserve's repair job was not yet finished.

On the corporate front, General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) will be in the spotlight Tuesday. Its shares continued to slide in premarkets trading after the company announced another recall Monday and set aside more money to cover the costs.

GM has been criticized for how it handled a different recall due to faulty ignition switches, linked to the deaths of 13 people. CEO Mary Barra will testify before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday about the problems.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

Shares of Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) slipped in premarket trading after a report claimed it avoided $2.4 billion in taxes.

U.S. stocks ended higher Monday. The Dow rose about 135 points, while the S&P 500 is at 1872, within spitting distance of its all-time high of 1883, set earlier this month. The Nasdaq jumped over 1%. For the first three months of the year, the Dow was still in the red, while the S&P 500 gained 1.5% and the Nasdaq added 0.5%.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

European markets were mostly higher in afternoon trading, while Asian markets ended mixed. Tokyo's Nikkei dipped 0.2% on the first day of a sales tax hike that will bring the rate to 8% from 5%, a new potential drag on the economy.

China markets ended in positive territory despite the release of muddled data on the country's factories. The Hang Seng added 1.3% and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.7%.

First Published: April 1, 2014: 5:26 AM ET

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Rand Paul's hopes for a flat tax

If Rand Paul - the Libertarian-leaning, conservative senator from Kentucky - chooses to run for president in 2016, expect to hear a lot about a single-rate flat tax system.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The blunt-spoken, Libertarian-leaning senator from Kentucky, who won the 2016 presidential straw poll among leading conservatives, favors a flat tax: a one-rate income tax system with a minimum of tax breaks for individuals and businesses.

But Paul hasn't settled on what that rate should be.

He has publicly discussed 17%. An aide said if Paul does make a formal proposal, the rate would not be higher than 17% and could be lower.

Much would depend on which tax breaks Paul chooses to keep. Two would definitely remain: the standard deduction and personal exemptions. But both would be considerably larger than they are under today's code.

The Paul aide said the senator might also consider preserving in some form the tax breaks for mortgage interest and charitable contributions.

Paul hasn't ruled out other types of tax reform if they "eliminate" complexity and regulation. But he has sketched out his views on a flat tax over the past few years.

"What you'd have is an attrition if not an outright elimination of the IRS because it would be so simple that people would comply, and it would be very simple to know whether they complied or not," Paul told Fox News last year.

Under a Paul flat tax, an individual would owe taxes on his wages, salaries and pension payments. But fringe benefits at work would remain tax free to workers, as they are today. One example of that is the contribution employers make to pay for workers' health insurance.

Capital gains, dividends and interest would also be tax free at the individual level, but would be taxed at the business level. Capital gains on owner-occupied housing would also be tax free.

In addition, Paul would eliminate the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax.

Related: Paul takes step toward White House run

Could a flat tax no higher than 17% raise as much revenue as the current system? No. To do that you'd need to have a rate at least in the low- to mid-20% range, said Joseph Rosenberg, a senior research associate of the Tax Policy Center.

But raising the same amount of revenue isn't Paul's goal.

On the contrary, Paul favors tax reform that would raise less revenue than today's tax code is projected to. At the same time, he wants to eliminate deficits within five years and proposes to do so in large part by reducing spending (as a percent of the size of the economy) every year over a decade.

Paul asserts that his flat tax would be progressive since the net percentage of one's wages paid in taxes would rise along with income.

Here's a simplified example of what that means: Say a married couple with two kids makes $100,000 in wages and is allowed to exempt $35,000 for their standard deduction and $6,500 for each dependent. Their total exemption would be $48,000.

So they would pay 17% on the remaining $52,000 of their income, or $8,840 in federal income taxes. That represents 8.84% of their gross income, which is their net effective tax rate.

If the same couple made $200,000 in wages, they would owe $25,840 in taxes for an effective tax rate of 12.92%.

But the overall effective rate could be lower still for high-income households because they are more likely to have investment income, which would be tax free under Paul's guidelines.

Related: Republican tax reform plan unveiled

And, Rosenberg noted, the 15.3% payroll tax -- which is money that workers and their employers pay into Social Security and Medicare -- would still be the biggest tax bite for low-income households.

A pure flat tax system wouldn't alter the payroll tax, although it's not clear whether Paul would like to.

Ideally, he would prefer a flat tax in which no one pays more than they currently do. But he has implied, and his aide confirmed, that if the effective rates of the very wealthy go up to ensure that the income tax burdens on lower and middle-income families don't increase, he would be okay with that.

Unless he puts out a detailed flat-tax proposal, however, it's impossible to say definitively who would be helped or hurt by the changes.

Of course, if Paul decides to run for president in 2016, he would hardly be the first Republican candidate to call for a flat tax.

Steve Forbes ran on a 17% flat tax in 2000. Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich ran on an optional flat tax in 2012. Their rival Herman Cain proposed a flat-ish tax called 9-9-9. And there have been plenty of flat-tax proposals introduced in Congress over the years.

It's not at all clear when Congress will take up the issue of tax reform seriously, or if a flat tax of some kind would ever garner sufficient support. Many believe not much will happen to overhaul the tax code until the next president takes office in 2017.

But should Paul make a run for the White House, you can expect to hear more about the flat tax over the next couple of years.

First Published: March 31, 2014: 7:09 AM ET

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