That is my problem with the entire concept of "poverty level."
My husband and I are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, and at times do live paycheck to paycheck....but we are comfortable. But there is no way we could live on our current income if we lived even in a suburb of a city like Philadelphia or Baltimore, let alone NYC.
And all of this reminds me that he didn't take the tax papers with him this morning to drop off at the accountant's office.........
My intention was to give you an acurate answer, not necessarily persuade you for or against. I think how ever the poverty level is defined under our existing system, it remains the same, and is not regionally adjusted except in the case of Hawaii and Alaska, where it is doubled. Thus the FairTax does not change anything regarding how it is determined, but, like other programs, uses it to establish how much the prebate should be.
I'm fairly persuaded that the FairTax is the best option on the table for many reasons. I would encourage you to look at the FairTax.org site, they have a very informative FAQ.