“One of the problems I have with adding a sales tax while keeping the income tax is it diminishes the visibility of the yearly impact of the federal government. At least filing that tax return people see a large chunk being taken of their earned dollars. Take a large portion of that away and I believe you would have less push back against additional government spending.”
An interesting perspective, BUT...
What was the exact income tax rate you paid last year? The year before that? How about in 2002?
The vast majority of people CANNOT answer this question.
So, the flip side to your argument is that a sales tax is actually extremely visible - every time you buy something, you see it. So if the government ever tried to increase it, people would know *exactly* what was about to happen and be able to fight it. With income taxes, they hide it in tax tables, deductions, and exemptions. People often have no idea how a specific tax bill actually affected their overall taxes without really crunching the numbers.
“I have to disagree with that one. I actually receive something in return for my property taxes. Schools, fire, police, roads. It is local and if you choose to live in an area with very little services you can have lower taxes.”
You can get those government services from other revenue generating methods - such as a consumption tax - that are more ethical. But, OK, I understand that many municipalities are not going to be able to provide those services under a consumption tax. Fine. Fees are more ethical than property taxes.
Any tax that says “just because I own property, I must pay the government or risk a tax lien and eventual government ownership of said property” is unethical, imo.
From my perspective, I've seen greater push back against taking a portion of the earnings.
My 2¢, your mileage may vary.
Fees are more ethical than property taxes.
A rose (or manure) by any other name, would smell just as sweet.
You are exactly right. I have been preparing our taxes for 40 years without a single IRS audit, so I must be good at it, yet I can’t tell you what percentage tax I paid in ANY year.
But I and my wife can tell you exactly what the sales tax is on everything we buy. As a matter of fact it is printed on every sales receipt from every store. Sales tax is so much more visible. And therefore much harder to increase.
How many people know our social security tax rates have been adjusted (upwards of course) 23 times?