Posted on 01/31/2005 7:12:16 AM PST by bmweezer
They don't have a list of neccessary items that are not taxed. Everything is taxed. What they do is determine an amount that is neccessary to be spent each month on neccessary items (food, clothing, shelter, etc...) and each person gets a month check equal to the amount of tax they would pay on said neccessitites.
This is better than having specific items as having specific items will cause a massive and prolonged debate over what to include on the list and what to leave off.
Most of the points that he attacks are in fact not part of the Fair Tax proposal. I believe that the author should actually read the proposal before he writes about it.
The most egregious (and there are many to select from) are probably (1) the Fair Tax would not be optional; it would be voluntary only in the sense that can elect to buy or not to buy an item (2) sales taxes are collected in most states, and are far less expensive to collect than our current income tax regime (3) large purchases, including even new homes are not exempt from the Fair Tax (4) the Fair Tax as proposed is uniform, 30% for all purchases of new goods and for all services rendered to consumers.
I think this thread should be pulled. There is not enough correct content in this article to really discuss.
Hmmm...
Illegals and "under-the-table" workers will now pay tax
Tax is on consumption (Constitutional) not income (unconstitutional)
IRS can be eliminated, or extremely downsized
Foreign tourists would also pay tax
An NRST would actually be a financial boon to retirees and those close to retiring when it is implemented. It would instantly make their 401(k)s, IRA, and Pensions 100% tax free!
How would it kill your business. Please be specific.
Agreed. Espescially with the 16th Amendment in the picture. Wanna bet that we could end up with the worst of both worlds otherwise?
Finally, a post about corporate tax. How is corporate sales tax assessed?
Finally, a post about corporate tax. How is corporate sales tax assessed?
Who really cares? In most cases, it's 6% or so.
Get that percentage up to 30, 40, 50%, now you've got a good incentive to scam the system.
Why do you think we have payroll deductions instead of a monthly tax bill? You think the employers like the paperwork?
All retail goods and services are taxed. Period. The FCA (Family Consumption Allowance), working like the income tax's personale xemption and standard deduction, provides a "rebate" of taxes paid up to poverty-line spending. Every single legal resident is eligible for the FCA. By calculating the effective tax rate, based on the marginal rate paid minus the FCA allowance, what you get is that for people whose spending is at that low, fixed-income level effectively pay no tax, even though they have the same exact marginal rate as everyone else.
In short, you spend up to the poverty line, your effective tax rate is 0%. At twice the poverty line, it's 1/2 of the NRST rate. At ten times the povery line, it's 9/10 of the NRST rate. And so on.
Since almost every state already has a retail sales tax (a fair tax), I suppose almost every state is sully.
We have payroll deduction because it was institued during WWII so the government would have a steady stream of income to pay the war bill. It was passed as a TEMPORARY measure. Its still here today though.
How do you come up with 50%?
47% of all households pay no income tax today. What's fair about that? A retail sales tax would make the freeloaders pay something.
If you are referring to the FairTax, this is not the case. That has been discussed with other NRST plans, however under the FairTax there is no special exemption for anything. The reason being is that it would lead to complication of the tax system with everyone lobbying for their product to be tax free.
In order to keep the rules simple, and avoid overtaxing the poor, they give every legal resident a prebate each month equal to the amount one would pay if one lived at the poverty level. So everyone has a prebate on spending up to the poverty level, regardless of what they spend it on.
It isn't just pushers and gang bangers who would pay under the NRST system. There are MILLIONS of Americans who either don't pay taxes, thus riding those of us who do, because they work in cash businesses, or those who underreport their incomes. Illegal gamblers, who participate in a billion dollar business here in the states, would also have to pay. Illegal aliens, millions of them, would also pay into the system. The NRST catches all these folks and encourages saving at the same time. It would also eliminate Capital Gains taxes (punishment for achievement), Estate Taxes (money that has already been taxed a bajillion times and is killing the family farmers and business owners), and all the hidden taxes that accumulate along the way when an item is produced. The numbers are much higher than you think.
Having studied the NRST for several years it is obvious to me that its implementation would be a huge boon to our economy and would make our goods and services much more attractive to the rest of the world.
Anything the government enacts will not be temporary.
Try this article (NYT, registration required).
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.