[ancient_geezer]

A Taxreform bump for you all.

If you would like to be added to this ping list let me know.

John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25), offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and SS/Medicare payroll taxes outright, and provide a IRS free replacement in the form of a retail sales tax:

H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.

Refer for additional information:

• http://www.fairtax.org,
• http://www.salestax.org &
• http://www.geocities.com/cmcofer/ftax.html
• http://pafairtax.org/calc.php

[Elric@Melnibone]

H.R.25 and FairTax have been getting some play the last week or so in the letters section of the local paper. As happy as I would be to see income tax and the IRS go the way of the dodo, I think most people miss the necessary process.

The constitution prohibits a direct tax unless it is apportioned among the states by population. It took a constitutional amendment to get the income tax past that little detail.

Based on my understanding of a sales tax or VAT, I think it fails constitutional muster because of that prohibition. Of course the Supreme Court may disagree, ruling that, by definition, a sales tax is apportioned by population or, more likely, that it does not constitute a "direct tax." They have done sillier things in the past.

However, there is precedent that it takes a constitutional amendment to repeal a constitional amendment (remember Prohibition?). A simple law doesn't suffice.

Failing a constitional amendment to repeal the income tax, we would be left with 2 taxes.

And, contrary to what Greenspan says, that would NOT be a good thing.