is the 16th Amendment. As long as the 16th is still valid, odds are very high that we'd end up with both a consumption tax AND an income tax. Since over 40 states have an income tax, I'd say the odds of repealling the 16th is essentially zero.

The US spends several hundred billion dollars and over 5 billion man-hours (equal to the full-time labor of about 2.5 million people) complying with our convoluted and corrupt tax code. The current system is horribly inefficient at raising the necessary revenues to fund the legitimate functions of government. A true flat tax is the best way to go, IMO, but I doubt it'll ever happen. Too many people (politicians, accountants, tax lawyers, etc.) have a vested interest in the status quo.