How can you call this tax "voluntary" vs. the income tax? Is buying food more voluntary than having a job?
The thinking is that:
a) necessity spending is not taxed
b) discretionary spending is taxed but is voluntary
hence you can choose to pay tax or not....
FWIW
All valid Social Security cardholders who are U.S. residents receive a monthly rebate equivalent to the FairTax paid on essential goods and services, also known as the poverty level expenditures. The rebate is paid in advance, in equal installments each month. The size of the rebate is determined by the Department of Health & Human Services’ poverty level multiplied by the tax rate. This is a well-accepted, long-used poverty-level calculation that includes food, clothing, shelter, transportation, medical care, etc.
Why not just exempt food and medicine from the tax? Wouldn’t that be fair and simple? Exempting items by category is neither fair nor simple. Respected economists have shown that the wealthy spend much more on unprepared food, clothing, housing, and medical care than do the poor. Exempting these goods, as many state sales taxes do, actually gives the wealthy a disproportionate benefit. Also, today these purchases are not exempted from federal taxation. The purchase of food, clothing, and medical services is made from after income tax and after payroll tax dollars, while their purchase price hides the cost of corporate taxes and private sector compliance costs.
"How can you call this tax 'voluntary' vs. the income tax? Is buying food more voluntary than having a job?"
To the extent that your purchase food up to the poverty level, those purchases are exempted from tax by the rebate. To the extent that you CHOOSE to consume at levels above poverty, you will pay taxes on that consumption. Sounds pretty voluntary to me, at least as close as any system will come.