I'm advocating for NO income tax. There is no acceptable amount. You are no more a serf or slave if you must hand someone else any portion of your hard work.
Is a sales tax any more just? Or a real-estate tax, or even a tax on assets/wealth?
The wonderful sales tax scheme, pushed so hard by kids a decade ago, could easily be morphed into a Value-Added-Tax - a sales tax on crack, taxing wealth creation at every step. Canada has that, and since its imposition, the income of the average Canadian, in constant currency, has been halved.
There were many other factors, but the VAT did nothing but speed it along.
First, we have to have a consensus on what government should be doing; and then, how to pay for it. And to prevent the Stealth Taxation of inflation, we need to have hard money.
AND we need to DESTROY the sinecured Political Leadership Class. TERM LIMITS - in the Constitution.
That removes the incentive to buy a client voter faction, and thus spend money on them. It also prevents lifers from concocting schemes like USAID. There would be no incentive, if all officeholders were temporarily serving their country.
That cuts huge costs out of government. Removing constitutional standing of the Regulatory State is more savings.
The REST...I would posit, could be paid with a Flat Tax.
WITHOUT withholding. You get your 1099 at the end of the year; the same data is sent to the IRS, you get a bill and you pay it.
Hard? Yup...planning ahead is work. This would TEACH young people right out of school, the need to budget and save for future costs.
Those who do not, can be punished. I expect few would have to be, after the first couple years.
But, the reality is, there must be a tax. There always has been taxes or tributes; we can control what they're spent on, who they're given to, but not that they must be paid. It's the price of civilization. Even living outside any sort of government, you will be reduced to hiring an army or paying off one to not raid you and maybe protect you.