Part of the problem is that most middle class people don't have excellent accountants and tax attorneys. So they're an easy target. Whereas, if you're truly wealthy, you will optimise your taxes etc more. Most also don't mind going to court to challenge the government on certain bits of the law, if the risk/reward ratio makes sense.
If you are paying 40-50% in tax, they're probably only paying 15-20%
I think VAT is great, if we can lower overall taxes. For example, I wouldn't mind seeing a high tax on luxury items. But a balance needs to be found within existing tax systems. In general, we shouldn't tax investments and labour as much. Those both create value. If I'm actively investing and getting great returns, I'm helping the economy.
Personally I'm quite a big fan of the Estonian tax system. You pay tax once you take money out of the company (i.e. when you want to spend it)
Woah, Estonia has a Land Value Tax! Baller! Reading about it briefly, I like the simplicity of it. I guess that's what you get when you can start relatively fresh like Estonia did (see also their e-citizenship and e-government efforts).
Rich people have money. Making money using money is almost not taxed here. So they escape the taxes.