Posted on 01/03/2005 12:55:23 PM PST by SmithL
WASHINGTON - After a year of relatively light lifting, Congress returns to work Tuesday facing a busy domestic agenda that could signal major changes in the way Americans pay taxes and plan for their retirements.
President Bush plans to focus on two big-ticket items in the 109th Congress: He wants workers to be able to invest part of their Social Security contributions in private accounts, and he wants to simplify the federal tax code.
Both plans are ambitious, and their success or failure could go a long way toward shaping the president's legacy in his second term.
Republicans, who are more confident than at any time since the 1994 "Republican Revolution," are eager to start tinkering with Bush's high-stakes ideas.
"This session of Congress will be the most interesting session since 1995," said Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn., part of the freshman class that helped sweep former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to power in 1994.
"This year there are going to be a lot of big issues discussed. It's going to be a fascinating session," he said.
"I anticipate a very contentious and partisan Congress, with much of the initial conflict centered on the budget, Social Security reform and judicial appointments but eventually extending well beyond that," said Thomas E. Mann, a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution.
Two of the boldest plans being discussed in Washington involve creating a national sales tax or a flat tax to replace the current multitiered income tax. Details of the president's tax proposals won't be announced until a panel of experts makes recommendations later this year. And details of his Social Security plan are equally sketchy, which is frustrating many Democrats.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Flat tax or Sales tax?
Probably a 10 year schedule to reduce the income tax system to a flat tax system.
The National Sales Tax system seems inordinately complex, but I would welcome that they continue to discuss for a little while to see if it is implementable, but I highly doubt it...
Maybe if they could get government spending under the TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS level it wouldn't be such an issue!
A National Sales Tax would repeal the 16th amendment. I'm all for that. Direct taxes are generally tyrannical. Indirect taxes are much more in keeping with Liberty. A flat income tax, though better than the current progressive socialist system, is still an income tax. I want to keep all that I earn and then I would be able to decide how much the government gets through my purchases. I'll go for a flat tax if we eliminate withholding. Let the people feel their taxes when they have to pay directly.
Withholding should be optional.
I have no problems with the income tax except that I hate the progressive system, and I think it is too high.
I'm all for tax reform, and I'd like the NST to stay on the table and in discussion. My guess is that the Democrats will stay out of power as long as it looks like the Republicans are getting things done. We have to ride herd on our reps to make sure they continue to get things done.
We certainly don't need reps similar to the Democratic Party's ineffective boobs.
But direct or indirect taxes, it matters little to me which is enacted. What is important is how tax payers view their taxes paid, and how the government views the taxes received. That being, the tax payers should see it as their money, and the government should see it as the tax payers' monies...
The National Sales Tax system seems inordinately complex,
In what way is a national retail sales tax on all new goods and services, collected by state agencies already in existance, "inordinately complex"?
Please be specific, I just don't see it as compared to a VAT, Flat Income Tax, or anything else actually offered as a bill in Congress today.
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 SS/Medicare 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
The main thing is to get rid of IRS. It is unAmerican.
"The National Sales Tax system seems inordinately complex"
The NST is simple. We just impose it on the already existing state sales tax system. It would cost almost nothing to implement, save billions in preparation costs of income tax and fuel a boom in our economy that would be like nothing anyone has seen before.
It would make us more competitive internationally too, by reducing or eliminating it for export. It would reduce the trade imbalance, possibly making us have a trade surplus by making us more competitive. Mexico would start putting factories up here to make Sombreros.;-)
Ping
Complex?
Hardly.
The NRST is as simple as you could possibly make a national tax.
It is also the most efficient, the most transparent and the most visible.
Attaboy! I couldn't agree more. A better climate here for capital investment means more and better paying jobs here for people who need them, whether they are high school educated or Ivy League graduates.
"The National Sales Tax system seems inordinately complex...."
The FairTax bill is between 100 and 200 pages long and it replaces a system which now runs, according to CCH, in excess of 60,000 pages. The leading flat tax proposal being promoted by Rep. Burgess would make the flat tax calculation an alternative to, rather than a replacement of, the current system. That would give congress THREE tax systems to manipulate (1) current progressive system (2) current AMT (3) new flat tax system. IOW, we can expect the 60,000 page tally to swell significantly if Mr. Burgess's proposal is codified into law.
In addition, the flat tax retains corporate income and payroll taxes which get embedded into the prices of all US production, making our goods less competitive in an increasingly global economy. If the flat tax passes, we can expect the trade deficit to continue to grow and job growth to continue to lag.
Why do you doubt it? Visit http://www.fairtaxvolunteer.org/smart/faq.html to get all of your questions answered.
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