The recommendation for a flat tax, which lawmakers acknowledge is radical and likely to be opposed by special-interest groups, came out of the income tax subcommittee of the Legislature's Tax Reform Task Force. The task force is working on an overhaul of the state's entire tax system from sales to property tax.

Keith Prescott, a tax accountant who helped formulate former Gov. Olene Walker's initial tax reform proposal, admitted he was a bit stunned the flat tax proposal has been embraced by the income tax panel. Though the proposal is a first step, the subcommittee includes pivotal lawmakers, such as Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, Senate chairman of the overall task force and Chairman of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Prescott, who has explained the flat tax concept to the task force on several occasions, said, "We need to do something. What we have is losing its integrity." The system has "Band-Aids upon Band-Aids," he said, because "We keep abandoning principles to raise rates."

"You have sold me," Rep. Greg Hughes told Prescott as the Salt Lake lawmaker made the motion to send the flat tax proposal to the task force that calls for a 4 percent tax on the federal adjusted gross income of all individual Utah taxpayers, with no deductions. Theoretically, the flat tax form, with only half a dozen lines for financial information, could fit on a postcard.

"It's a very, very elegant system," Prescott said.

A study of selected 2002 tax returns indicated that a switch from the existing graduated rates to flat tax would make no difference or, in many cases, reduce the total tax a family pays, Prescott told the lawmakers. "It is very possible to make this system work without hurting anyone."

Still, the proposal is likely to ignite controversy in two areas. The building and real estate industry likely will oppose the elimination of homeownership deductions.

Prescott argued that studies have found no evidence that eliminating the deductions affects the housing market. "If there is a rational explanation for [the housing lobby's] opposition, I would like to hear about it."

Prone to even stiffer opposition, however, is the elimination of the state deduction for charitable giving. (Because the state tax would use the federal taxable income as a starting point, charitable giving would already be written off once at that level.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints already has made clear its opposition to an elimination of that deduction.

"For the overall good of the citizenry, the state tax system should continue to provide tax deductions for charitable giving - including religious contributions," the church said in a statement last month, just as the task force first considered the flat tax proposal.

"Bam! We were in deep water immediately," Prescott said of the church's statement.

Bramble emphasized that the subcommittee, which, like the Legislature, is dominated by members of the LDS Church, nevertheless believes the flat tax will not hurt the traditional tithing of LDS members.

"There is no evidence [in states and nations with flat tax systems] that it makes a difference to giving," said Bramble.

Prescott, agreed, joking that when Mormons in Salt Lake City "hitched up their horses to save my LDS ancestors at Martin's Cove, they didn't check to see what it would cost them."

Still, Bramble and Prescott acknowledged that acceptance of the idea by a majority of legislators will not come easy. Tax reform has failed before.

"The lobbyists are the biggest danger to the reform process," Prescott said.

The lobbyists lost some ground Thursday with Bramble, who had asked several special-interest groups, including the Utah League of Cities and Towns and the Utah Taxpayers Association, to give the task force their recommendations on changing the tax code. The result, despite Bramble's chiding, was a series of slide presentations of generalities with few concrete proposals.

Bramble, who wants to throw the reform process open to the public, admitted he was exasperated.

''We gathered all the stakeholders . . . to hear what they had to offer. But it was a mentality of, 'You show me your cards before I show you mine,' '' Bramble said. ''We didn't start this [tax reform discussion] just to go through the motions.''

About flat tax

The flat tax rate in its most elegant, postcard-friendly form:

* 4 percent tax on the federal adjusted gross income of all Utah families.

* No deductions (except the federally mandated American Indian reservation income).

Potential complications

that could push the flat rate upward 2 to 3 percentage points:

* Poverty exemptions.

* Charity deductions.

* Homeownership credits/deductions.