[Your Nightmare]

you will collect the sales tax from the buyer - so your prices remain constant to the buyer -...

No, he only pays taxes on his profits. Even if he had a 20% profit margin and paid 33% total effective tax rate, the most he could drop his prices due to taxes is < 7%.

Relative prices would not stay the same. There is no legitimate source that says they will.

[lewislynn]

you will collect the sales tax from the buyer - so your prices remain constant to the buyer

+30% tax.

Presently, a $100.00 gross sale would be minus any income taxes due, the balance is mine.

After a sales tax, the same $100.00 gross sale would be minus 23% with only $77.00 left to spend...

$77.00 minus 23% taxes yet to pay when I want to, or have to spend it.

My $100.00 gross sale after the sales tax would be taxed at 41%...The remaining $59.00 would have to include the cost of the goods sold, profit, wages etc.

[Chilldoubt]

No, he only pays taxes on his profits. Even if he had a 20% profit margin and paid 33% total effective tax rate, the most he could drop his prices due to taxes is < 7%.
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you are forgetting two things that you yourself taught me-
compliance costs and taxes embedded in production goods...

so it is NOT true that he only pays taxes on profits... those are the only taxes recognized by the ingnorant masses though.