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Taxing Sales under the FairTax – What Rate Works?
Boston University ^ | September 2006 | Laurence J. Kotlikoff et al

Posted on 10/19/2006 5:11:50 PM PDT by pigdog

As specified in Congressional bill H.R. 25/S. 25, the FairTax is a proposal to replace the federal personal income tax, corporate income tax, payroll (FICA) tax, capital gains, alternative minimum, self-employment, and estate and gifts taxes with a single-rate federal retail sales tax. The FairTax also provides a prebate to each household based on its demographic composition. The prebate is set to ensure that households pay no taxes net on spending up to the poverty level.

Bill Gale (2005) and the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform (2005) suggest that the effective (tax inclusive) tax rate needed to implement H.R. 25 is far higher than the proposed 23% rate. This study, which builds on Gale’s (2005) analysis, shows that a 23% rate is eminently feasible and suggests why Gale and the Tax Panel reached the opposite conclusion.

This paper begins by projecting the FairTax’s 2007 tax base net of its rebate. Next it calculates the tax rate needed to maintain the real levels of federal and state spending under the FairTax. It then determines if an effective rate of 23% would be sufficient to fund 2007 estimated spending or if not, the amount by which non-Social Security federal expenditures would need to be reduced. Finally, it shows that the FairTax imposes no additional real fiscal burdens on state and local government, notwithstanding the requirement that such governments pay the FairTax when they purchase goods and services.

(Excerpt) Read more at people.bu.edu ...


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: fairtax; incometax; itchyandscratchy; taxes; taxreform
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To: Your Nightmare
From your earlier post, your claim was:

"Under the FairTax, the value of all government transfers, including the FairTax prebate, would be reduced by the amount of the FairTax. "

The information posted from the Kotlikoff et al paper shows that statement to be incorrect:

"Nominal federal transfer payments TR that are not taxed under current law must remain high enough to command the same goods and services under the FairTax as they do under current law."

581 posted on 10/23/2006 2:01:30 PM PDT by pigdog
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To: pigdog
You can't read???
Yes. Can't you explain your point - or don't you have one?
582 posted on 10/23/2006 2:01:42 PM PDT by Your Nightmare
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To: pigdog
He can read allot better than you can maintain civility...
583 posted on 10/23/2006 2:01:45 PM PDT by xcamel (Press to Test, Release to Detonate)
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To: Your Nightmare

No - what I asked for was the SOURCE for the information she posted.


584 posted on 10/23/2006 2:02:42 PM PDT by pigdog
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To: Your Nightmare

See #581.


585 posted on 10/23/2006 2:03:25 PM PDT by pigdog
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To: Your Nightmare

(Hint: your purpose is not the truth either, but is to misstate all that you possibly can about the FairTax) - everyone knows that.


586 posted on 10/23/2006 2:06:06 PM PDT by pigdog
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To: pigdog
What I asked for was the source you obtained that comment from - and you didn't provide it.

My comment was a paraphrase, not a quote. I provided you with a link (what you asked for) to a FairTax site and quoted the relevant text (exceeded your demand).

Are you playing one of your semantic games? I see no point in responding further to your posts on the subject.

587 posted on 10/23/2006 2:13:48 PM PDT by lucysmom
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To: pigdog
The very "steps" that are embedded as part and parcel in the bill ... making the U.S. the world's largest tax haven.

A tax haven for investments, not a place to live and consume.

588 posted on 10/23/2006 2:16:56 PM PDT by lucysmom
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To: pigdog

From your earlier post, your claim was:

"Under the FairTax, the value of all government transfers, including the FairTax prebate, would be reduced by the amount of the FairTax. "

The information posted from the Kotlikoff et al paper shows that statement to be incorrect:

"Nominal federal transfer payments TR that are not taxed under current law must remain high enough to command the same goods and services under the FairTax as they do under current law."

Of course, you misunderstood Kotlikoff and failed to post the formula that appeared with Kotlikoff's quote that actually confirms my statement. Here it is:

TRFT = TR07 (1+α)
Where:
TRFT is nominal federal transfer payments under FairTax in 2007;
TR07 is estimated nominal federal transfer payments under current system in 2007;
α is the percentage by which market prices under the FairTax would exceed expected prices in 2007 under current law.

 

This is showing that under the FairTax, nominal federal transfers must be increased by the price increase caused by adding the FairTax to consumer prices. In other words, the value of federal transfers are reduced by the amount of the FairTax, so you have to increase the nominal amount of the transfer to keep the same real value.

589 posted on 10/23/2006 2:18:31 PM PDT by Your Nightmare
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To: pigdog
NO, it isn't. Not for the purpose of the Calculator as I've explained several times.

Could it be that the purpose of the calculator is to mislead?

590 posted on 10/23/2006 2:19:24 PM PDT by lucysmom
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To: lucysmom
Not at all ... a fine place to live and consume - and with very low taxes also under the FairTax.

And a superb place for investment too.

591 posted on 10/23/2006 2:22:52 PM PDT by pigdog
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To: Your Nightmare
I assume this emergency fund would be spent in case of an emergency. Correct?

The FairTax, savings untaxed except in case of emergency - not a pretty picture. Imagine all those Katrina victims providing windfall revenue to the government coffers.

592 posted on 10/23/2006 2:24:20 PM PDT by lucysmom
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To: lucysmom

NO - as I said previously.


593 posted on 10/23/2006 2:24:37 PM PDT by pigdog
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To: pigdog

I know what you said.


594 posted on 10/23/2006 2:29:29 PM PDT by lucysmom
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To: lucysmom
"Imagine all those Katrina victims providing windfall revenue to the government coffers."

You mean sort of like they did under the income tax??? Yeah, right!!!

595 posted on 10/23/2006 2:37:16 PM PDT by pigdog
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To: lucysmom
The FairTax, savings untaxed except in case of emergency - not a pretty picture. Imagine all those Katrina victims providing windfall revenue to the government coffers.

Woo HOO!! A plan that encourages savings and investment makes it harder to create emergency savings than one that doesn't. The SQL logic in an (acorn) nutshell. Unbelievable.

596 posted on 10/23/2006 2:41:27 PM PDT by groanup (Limited government is the answer. What's the question?)
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To: groanup
A plan that encourages savings and investment makes it harder to create emergency savings than one that doesn't.

The FairTax gives a guy a break when times are good, and kicks him when he's down.

597 posted on 10/23/2006 2:56:02 PM PDT by lucysmom
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To: lucysmom

And that's your story and you're sticking with it. LOL!!!


598 posted on 10/23/2006 2:57:04 PM PDT by groanup (Limited government is the answer. What's the question?)
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To: pigdog
You mean sort of like they did under the income tax??? Yeah, right!!!

How so? Do you mean all those hidden, embedded taxes that don't amount to a hill of beans when illegals are paying them but balloon when FairTaxers are promoting the fantasy of reduced prices due to their removal?

599 posted on 10/23/2006 3:00:09 PM PDT by lucysmom
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To: Your Nightmare
Your claim was:

"... the value of all government transfers ... would be reduced by the amount of the FairTax ..."

And here we see you say:

"nominal federal transfers must be increased by the price increase caused by adding the FairTax to consumer prices. In other words, the value of federal transfers are reduced by the amount of the FairTax, so you have to increase the nominal amount of the transfer to keep the same real value."

So let's see - you say that ALL federal transfers must be reduced but that federal transfers must be increased... HMMM! - Seems like a disconnect there somewhere since you've shot yourself in the foot by contradicting in one part what you said in another.

But, hey, we're used to that from you folks. Let's see ... increasing the transfers by the amount of the Fairtax is different from increasing the transfers by the amount of the FairTax. Suuuuurrrre!! it is!

I didn't misunderstand Kotlikoff at all. And BTW the equation you post does nothing to "confirm" you outlandish statement at all. The alpha term can be zero in which case there is no indexing at all but in any event your claim of "all government transfers being reduced" is wishful thinking on your part.

600 posted on 10/23/2006 3:20:25 PM PDT by pigdog
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