“25% Federal Sales Tax at checkout?”
Europeans have what they call a value-added tax. I recollect a rate as high as 22%. It is collected at various stages to cut down on tax evasion.
a value added tax is different ... the national sales tax would only occur at the final retail purchase ...
The sales tax is also on new items only.
The VAT REQUIRES a special government bureaucracy that determines what each step in the manufacturing process increases the product ‘value’ then taxes the ‘added value’
The consumer pays an 18% VAT at the end (this is on top of all other taxes collected along the way)!
The Fair Tax, the Flat Tax ELIMINATE the need for another government bureaucracy.
The VAT is even worse than we have now!