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U.S. Tax Code May Be Facing a Full Rewrite
LA Times ^ | Nov. 7, 2004 | Warren Vieth

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bushvictory; domesticagenda; fairtax; incometax; taxcode; taxes; taxreform
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To: GeronL
The VAT is a terrible idea, consumers won't have a clue how much they're really taxed/

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.

41 posted on 11/07/2004 4:13:55 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
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To: Prime Choice

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!


42 posted on 11/07/2004 4:20:55 AM PST by BillM
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To: livius
One of the things I really like about the retail sales tax idea is precisely that we would no longer have to be explaining all of our financial decisions to the government.

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!

43 posted on 11/07/2004 4:22:32 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
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To: FairOpinion

I'm ready "Lets Go".


44 posted on 11/07/2004 4:37:27 AM PST by JOE43270 (JOE43270 America voted and said we are One Nation Under God with Liberty and Justice for All.)
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To: FairOpinion
U.S. Tax Code May Be Facing a Full Rewrite

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.

45 posted on 11/07/2004 4:52:49 AM PST by AndyJackson
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To: FairOpinion

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.


46 posted on 11/07/2004 5:35:10 AM PST by yoswif
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To: FairOpinion

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.


47 posted on 11/07/2004 5:57:49 AM PST by GnL
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To: BillM

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.


48 posted on 11/07/2004 6:06:08 AM PST by StraightDave (An appeaser is one who keeps feeding a crocodile while hoping to be eaten last.)
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To: StraightDave
From www.fairtax.org:

"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?"

49 posted on 11/07/2004 6:16:22 AM PST by Woodworker
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To: konaice

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....


50 posted on 11/07/2004 6:20:00 AM PST by biggiepaul
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To: FairOpinion

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.


51 posted on 11/07/2004 6:28:25 AM PST by dr_who_2
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To: numberonepal

I'm curious to know how economists link sales tax rates to inflation and/or recessions.


52 posted on 11/07/2004 6:31:51 AM PST by dr_who_2
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To: numberonepal
The main point of the Fair Tax is that it gets government out of my life.

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.

53 posted on 11/07/2004 6:34:26 AM PST by ConservativeLawyer (Four More Years!)
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To: dr_who_2
I'm curious to know how economists link sales tax rates to inflation and/or recessions.

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.

54 posted on 11/07/2004 6:40:53 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
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To: FairOpinion
We can start by abolishing the 16th amendment. Then let the games begin.

5.56mm

55 posted on 11/07/2004 6:43:25 AM PST by M Kehoe
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Comment #56 Removed by Moderator

To: All
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
Print Version / PDF

Bondholders
Print Version / PDF

Charitable Gifts
Print Version / PDF

Education
Print Version / PDF

Healthcare
Print Version / PDF

Homebuilder
Print Version / PDF

Investments
Print Version / PDF

Manufacturing
Print Version / PDF

Mining
Print Version / PDF

Oil and Gas
Print Version / PDF

Retailers
Print Version / PDF

Stock and Bond Markets
Print Version / PDF

Timber Related Industries
Print Version / PDF

Revenue Neutrality
Print Version / PDF

Interest Rates
Print Version / PDF

Senior Citizens
Print Version / PDF

Small Business
Print Version / PDF

Stable Government
Print Version / PDF

FairTax vs. Current System
Print Version / PDF

The Future and FairTax
Print Version / PDF

Tax Evasion: The Underground Economy
Print Version / PDF

Wages
Print Version / PDF


57 posted on 11/07/2004 7:06:59 AM PST by numberonepal (Don't Even Think About Treading On Me)
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To: FairOpinion
"Simplification would be the goal," ...

Many simplifications have resulted in the current code.

58 posted on 11/07/2004 7:10:32 AM PST by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: Prime Choice

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.


59 posted on 11/07/2004 7:23:33 AM PST by getsoutalive
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To: Taxman; Principled; Bigun; EternalVigilance; kevkrom; n-tres-ted; Poohbah; CliffC; ...
A Taxreform bump for you all.

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


60 posted on 11/07/2004 7:25:45 AM PST by ancient_geezer (Equality, the French disease: Everyone is equal beneath the guillotine.)
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