Posted on 11/07/2004 2:07:53 AM PST by FairOpinion
An official says all provisions will be examined by a reform panel. Many experts think Bush will favor a piecemeal approach.
As the White House prepares to name a blue-ribbon panel on tax reform, the labyrinthine U.S. revenue code could face the first top-to-bottom rewrite since President Reagan closed loopholes and slashed income tax rates on a historic scale in 1986.
"This is a fundamental look at the entire code, every component of the code," a senior administration official said late last week. "Nothing is off the table."
"Simplification would be the goal," Bush said Thursday during his first postelection news conference. "The main thing is that it would be viewed as fair … that it wouldn't be complicated."
"They'll be looking at the whole thing with three principles in mind: The fundamental reform should be more fair, more simple and more growth-oriented," the official said. "That's their marching orders."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
That may be true. However, consumers have no idea how much they are paying in taxes now. The average Joe deoesn't even understand that businesses don't pay taxes, but merely passes on the cost to their customers.
How exactly is it regressive? Do the higher income earners spend less money? Normally necessities of life (eg food) are excluded. There is also normally a credit for low income families.
15% of a Mercedes is a lot more than 15% of a used chevy!
The advantage is that reinvestment of assets is not taxed. The money goes where it will grow!
Exactly. The main point of the Fair Tax is that it gets government out of my life. My income is my business, and quite frankly, no one else's. I will take on ANY argument to the contrary. Bring it on!
I'm ready "Lets Go".
Maybe??? It better be. Bush promised and we gave him a mandate. I presume her Shillness will veto it unless it is complex enough that her egg-headed colleagues can find a satisfactory level of nuance to keep the unwashed red-staters from understanding it. How can we possibly achieve social justice with a fair and simple tax code.
The single act that would have the most benefit to the environment would be replacing the current tax code which encourages stupid, wasteful consumption with a tax on consumption like the national retail sales tax.
The national retail sales tax makes American workers more competitive with foreign workers because the stuff on WalMarts shelves made by American workers is taxed at the same rate as the stuff on WalMarts shelves made by foreign workers.
In law school I took a class on Federal Tax. One of our books consisted of the entire tax code. The thing is a monstrosity and weighs a ton (even in paperback). Even putting aside the size of the code, anyone who has ever tried to make sense of the different provisions and how they work together knows that this is an example of bureaucracy run amok. Scrap the entire thing and start over. Piecemeal mending won't solve the problem.
Its been awhile since my head was into the "Fair Tax" proposed. But, as I recall, the sales tax only applied to the first time a product was sold at retail... If still the same, then there would be no sales tax on the "used" Chevy.
"No tax on used goods. No tax on business inputs. With the FairTax, if you choose to buy any new good or service, the sales tax is charged just as state sales taxes are computed today. If you choose to buy used goods - used car, used home, used appliances - you do not pay the FairTax. If, as a business owner or farmer, you buy something for strictly business purposes (not for personal consumption), you pay no consumption tax. So, in deciding what to buy, you get to choose whether or not you pay the federal consumption tax."
"No federal sales tax up to the poverty level means progressivity like today's tax system. Furthermore, to ensure that no American pays tax on necessities, the FairTax plan provides a prepaid, monthly rebate for every registered household to cover the consumption tax spent on necessities up to the federal poverty level. This, along with several other features, is how the FairTax completely untaxes the poor, lowers the tax burden on most, while making the overall rate progressive. However, the FairTax is progressive based on lifestyle/spending choices, rather than simply punishing those taxpayers who are successful. Do you see how much freer life is with the FairTax instead of the income tax?"
i have a question on fairtax:
1. are used car purchases taxed?
2. are newly built home purchases taxed?
3. is the purchase of an existing built home taxed?
i think you can see where i was going....
The thing that bugs me about a sales tax is that I don't see how it would rid us of the IRS. It seems to me that the IRS (or some other agency) would still exist to audit businesses and generally push them around in order to enforce it.
I'm curious to know how economists link sales tax rates to inflation and/or recessions.
This is the prime reason I support the Fair Tax.
Also it has the added advantage of sharing our tax burden with foreign tourists and those who currently derive their income through illegal means. They pay when they spend.
And it will make it much more difficult for the government to raise taxes when any such increase will be obvious at the cash register.
I'm not really sure, but since the tax is revenue neutral I don't see much difference in economic cycles and inflation rates.
What people have to understand is that this change will be across the board. Their ways of thinking about taxes will be paradignamically shifted. Everything will be totally different. When folks start getting their entire paycheck, the thinking will shift. You'll see a lot of questions about the Fair Tax asked in terms of the way taxes work now.
5.56mm
| Oops. I left the links relative in the last post. They have been corrected to absolute here. Apologies. Here's a quick reference quide to more pointed issues about the Fair Tax. |
|
| Industry Issues | Economic Issues |
|
Agriculture and Ranching Bondholders Charitable Gifts Education Healthcare Homebuilder Investments Manufacturing Mining Oil and Gas Retailers Stock and Bond Markets Timber Related Industries |
Revenue Neutrality Interest Rates Senior Citizens Small Business Stable Government FairTax vs. Current System The Future and FairTax Tax Evasion: The Underground Economy Wages |
Many simplifications have resulted in the current code.
If most foodstuffs and basic clothing is exempted from tax, much like most state sales tax systems then that this is not an issue. Most lower income families spend the bulk of their income on housing food and clothing. There is no reason for a national sales tax to be considered regressive.
If you would like to be added to this ping list let me know.
John Linder in the House & Saxby Chambliss Senate, offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and payroll taxes outright, and provide a IRS free replacement in the form of a 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.Refer for additional information: http://www.fairtax.org, http://www.salestax.org & http://www.geocities.com/cmcofer/ftax.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.