Amen to this geezer. I have researched this proposal and I really cannot find ANYTHING truly negative.
I can. The APT tax hides the burden of excess government from the view of the electorate. All taxes in the end trickle down to individual citizens who ultimately bear the burden of the APT in lower wages, lost returns from retirement investments, and higher prices.
Merely hiding taxation from view or disguising its nature by taxing every movement of money and assets at a low nominal rate does not change the fact that govenment extracts over 30% relative to household income through consumer expenditures and savings and investments.
With the low visibility of the APT, the worst aspects of VATs and corporate taxation come to play in creating a money machine for government at the expense of the economy and welfare of the individual citizen.
Sorry I just don't go along with your rosy assessment of the APT. It is a formula for economic disaster and unbounded growth of government weighing heaviest on those at the bottom of the economic ladder.
The National Retail Sales Tax(NRST), of HR25, on the other hand provides the necessary visibility for the electorate to react to. Each citizen perceives the cost of government directly, and not camoflaged and embedded into inflated prices and lost wage increases. Furthermore relief from the tax is provided in a monthly demogrant to all legal residents that cover the NRST upto the HHS provertyline of expenditure. Savings and investments are not taxed under the NRST encouraging thift and promoting independance from government programs like Social Security.
All in all, I see a much better system in a National Retail Sale Tax as opposed to a system that hide the burden for the view of those who should be aware of what government is costing them.
Thanks, Geez, I'll keep an eye out for that. Should be interesting to see how many are on board with it this time ( many more, I would guess). I still oppose your insistance that government will extract more than 30% relative to household income. I have yet to see any calculations that prove the excessive cascade effect mentioned so often here, or the hidden negative effects discussed here. As always, if those numbers could be presented I would be happy to check them out and cease this argument altogether. But honestly, this argument appears to be nothing more than paranoia and opposition based on whole hearted support of a competing plan (NRST). As I've stated before, Fair Tax, should it pass, would be a far cry better than what we have, I just don't think it goes quite far enough in avoiding evasion. While nowhere near as complex (and therefore porous) as our current code, it's complexity still lends itself to loopholes that by the very nature of capitalists will be exploited. As to your argument of excessive tax collected under APT, an adjustment to the rate would correct that as soon as accurate data is calculated. As always, thanks for your help.