Could someone explain what the VAT is? I's dum! ;)
Not dumb. Simply uninformed! ;-)
A VAT is unacceptable because, while it is a consumption tax like the National Retail Sales Tax, it is collected at every stage of production.
This makes it another insidious HIDDEN tax, and therefore prone to continued political gamesmanship by the politicians. The divide and conquer tactics against the taxpayers would be allowed to continue under a VAT...
Everyone across this great land who supports fundamental tax reform knows this well...the VAT is a political nonstarter.
Hastert's VAT proposal is dead in its crib.
There is only one plan that meets all the criteria of true fundamental tax reform: the FairTax or some modification of it.
Every fair-minded person that has looked at this in depth arrives at the same conclusion.
Could someone explain what the VAT is? I's dum! ;)
Its a good question, a lot of people do not understand what a VAT actually is.
Definition [ http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/13330.html ]:
value-added tax
levy imposed on businesses at all levels of production of a good or service, and based on the increase in price, or value, added to the good or service by each level. Because all stages of a value-added tax are ultimately passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices, it has been described as a hidden sales tax. Originally introduced in France (1954), it is now used by most W European countries.
The current income/payroll tax structure now in place is a subtraction method VAT, in that it is a levy imposed on businesses at all levels of production, it is passed on to the consumer hidden in the price of goods and services(more than 22%[the lowest estimate that prices would fall with enactment of the NRST] of the price of all goods and services), lower wages, lower returns on investment for investors, and higher interest rates(as much a 25% greater than they would be under the NRST).
OTOH; The NRST is a single stage(Retail), single rate(23%), visible to the consumer tax, on the "retail" sale of new(untaxed) goods and service. It is not a VAT and is expressly paid by the consumer not the business and is completely visible to the consumer by a receipt mandated by the law. The NRST does not tax purchases made for investment or business purposes.
Purpose of the NRST is to replace all Federal income/payroll taxes and gift/estate taxes with a single tax levied on all new goods and service once and only once at the retail level paid by the final consumer(the purchaser) of those goods or services. Goods that have been previously taxed under the NRST (i.e. used) are not taxed on resale.
The NRST is a specific remedy and replacement for the current VAT we now pay in the form of inflation and lower income(i.e. the corporate income/payroll tax). The NRST repeals over 95% of all Federal taxes currently in place and replaces them with one simple, easy to administer and understand, Retail Sales Tax.
H.R.25, S.1493
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. .
Issue: What Is the Best Way to Collect a Value Added Tax?
A value-added tax (VAT) generally is a tax imposed and collected on the value added at every stage in the production and distribution process of a good or service. Although a VAT may be computed in any of several ways, the amount of value added generally can be thought of as the difference between the value of sales and purchases of a business.
Several administrative systems could be used for a VAT: the credit-invoice method, the subtraction method, and the addition method. The credit-invoice method has been the system of choice in nearly all countries that have adopted a VAT. A subtraction-method VAT is also known as a business-transfer tax. The addition method is a mirror image of the subtraction method and will not be discussed here.
Credit-Invoice Method VAT. Under the credit-invoice method, a tax is imposed on the seller for all of its sales. The tax is calculated by applying the tax rate to the sales price of the good or service, and the amount of tax generally is disclosed on the sales invoice. A business credit is provided for all VAT taxpayers on all purchases of taxable goods and services (that is, on inputs) used in the seller's business. The ultimate nonbusiness consumer does not receive a credit for his or her purchases. The VAT credit for inputs prevents the imposition of multiple layers of tax on the total final purchase price. As a result, the net tax paid at a particular stage of production or distribution is based on the value added by that taxpayer at that stage of production or distribution. In theory, the total amount of tax paid with respect to a good or service from all levels of production and distribution should equal the sales price of the good or service to the ultimate consumer multiplied by the VAT rate.
To receive an input credit, a business purchaser generally is required to have an invoice from a seller containing the name of the purchaser and the amount of tax collected. At the end of a reporting period, a taxpayer may calculate its tax liability by subtracting the cumulative amount of tax stated on its purchase invoices from the cumulative amount of tax stated on its sales invoices.
Subtraction-Method VAT. Under the subtraction method, value added is measured as the difference between a business's taxable sales and its purchases of taxable goods and services from other businesses. At the end of the reporting period, a rate of tax is applied to this difference in order to determine the tax liability. The subtraction method is similar to the credit-invoice method in that both methods measure value added by comparing sales to purchases that have borne the tax.
The subtraction method differs from the credit-invoice method principally in that the tax rate is applied to a net amount of value added (sales less purchases) rather than to gross sales with credits for tax on gross purchases. A business's tax liability under the credit-invoice method relies on the business's sales records and purchase invoices, while the tax liability under the subtraction method may rely on records that the taxpayer maintains for income tax or financial accounting purposes.