[hexpoppy]

Also consider---there are millions of illegals in this country who do not file tax returns, there are those people who get their money by illegal means--who do not file tax returns---and of course there are people who cheat on their taxes----- the sales tax would be from a much broader base--virtually every single person in the country! And don't forget the enormous saving from shutting down the IRS--with their sky high operating budget.

[phil_will1]

"And don't forget the enormous saving from shutting down the IRS--with their sky high operating budget."

Actually, costs savings from eliminating the IRS are not among the biggest selling points. I seem to recall that a couple of years ago, Pres. Bush was pushing to increase the IRS's budget to something like $9.5 billion/yr. While that isn't exactly chump change, compared to the federal budget it doesn't move the needle that much. Of course, that doesn't count the fact that the IRS is constantly complaining that they don't have enough resources. Of course, with the 46,000 page monstrosity that not even the experts can understand, there is a lot of validity to their complaint.

Eliminating the IRS would be much more important from the standpoint of restoring the Constitutional freedoms that have been lost. The real savings, however, are in the area of compliance costs. They run in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year (depending on whose estimates you use) and almost all could be saved under the FairTax.