There can be no denying that the rise in popularity of republican presidential contender Herman Cain is due to his 9-9-9 flat tax plan. It’s also proof that American taxpayers strongly support a dramatic simplification of the federal income tax code.

Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan is a brilliantly simple proposal to replace the extremely complex current tax code with a three part flat tax – 9% income tax, 9% corporate tax and a 9% national sales tax.

Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, estimates that the federal income tax code and all its attendant rules and regulations contain almost 10 million words.  It has changed 14,000 times since 1986; last year alone there were 500 changes to the federal income tax code.

IRS estimates that Americans spend more than 6 billion hours each tax year calculating and filing taxes.  By the tax year 2015, the cost to file taxes will cost Americans $483 billion a year.

Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax proposal, or flat tax, would replace all the current tax code with a single rate that would apply to all incomes after deductions.  His flat tax would eliminate taxes on savings, terminate the death tax. It would drastically cut the business profit tax and reduce tax loopholes.  Surprisingly, it would also do away with Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes.

Proponents of the flat tax say it would stimulate the economy and create jobs, would end crony capitalism and reduce lobbying in Washington.

Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan has it’s challenges.  Introducing a national sales tax, on top of state and local taxes (that are already 9%) is a tough sale.  And if it did come to fruition, Washington politicians will always be looking for reasons to raise it.  This is already a problem in Europe, where some countries that already have their version of a national sales tax, called the Value Added Tax, have steadily increased the tax percentage.

Not everyone is gung-ho on the flat tax proposal.  Critics claim that the lack of the home mortgage interest deduction would hurt housing. They also point out that without a charitable contribution deduction, donations would plumment.

Both proponents and critics of a federal flat tax have to agree that the current federal income tax code is outdated, too complex, and too costly to continue.

Since Cain announced his 9-9-9 tax plan, other presidential contenders are coming with their own version of flat tax.

So what does all this mean?

The writing is on the wall, it’s just a matter of time before the flat tax replaces the current federal tax code.