[RobRoy]

>>The NRST is a hell of a lot more fair than the income tax.<<

I agree, but only if it was flat and across the board. That is, ALL items carry the exact same tax and ALL people pay it.

It would never fly and it aint gonna happen.

It would also destroy our economy because people like me would cut their spending dramatically. Too many people would start saving instead of spending and there would be less use of credit. I could go on and on. The bottom line is that the best way to curtail an activity is to tax it.

Heavily taxing the act of spending (and it would be heavy) would not exactly by an economic boost.

[Phantom Lord]

The bottom line is that the best way to curtail an activity is to tax it.

Then wouldn't the removal of tax on your labor be an incentive to earn even more as you would get to keep every penny?

Remember, with the NRST there are NO FEDERAL TAXES of any kind taken from your pay check. No income tax, so SS tax, no medicare/medicaid tax, NOTHING.

You get to keep 100% of your check (minus state withholdings).

[Dead Corpse]

Nope. I'd probably be more apt to buy more durable goods, and willing to pay a bit more for something that'd hold value better as well.

Yes. More people would be able to live a frugal life and save more money. And? How is this a bad thing. Americans are currently only saving 40 cents out of every $100 they make. And we wonder why Social Security is such a mess?

Not having a billion and one tax regualtions to deal with would make starting up a new business that much more a viable option as well. New producers create new wealth.

Not seeing a downside here....

[Judith Anne]

Heavily taxing the act of spending (and it would be heavy) would not exactly by an economic boost.

The boost comes from eliminating the cost of tax compliance at EVERY stage of production--and not only the cost of tax compliance is eliminated, but the gigantic, politicized, greedy, unwieldy, pork-stuffed, unreadable current tax code is ALSO gone! Gone are the costs of hiring tax attorneys to lobby for miniscule reductions in industry-specific taxes that strangle production! Gone are the costs of thousands of federal tax offices, machinery, employees, supervisors, computers, telephones, papers, mailing costs, specialists--GONE! The savings to government would be in the many billions of dollars--any idea what tax compliance costs YOU, costs business, costs the government, costs the economy? GONE!

[rolling_stone]

The bottom line'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">bottom line is that the best way to curtail an activity is to tax it.

You mean like on cigarettes, alcohol, gasoline and drugs? LOL...

[ArGee]

It would also destroy our economy because people like me would cut their spending dramatically.

As far as I can tell, people like you and me who actually think before we spend are rare. And we probably already only buy what we think is worthwhile based on a VERY different scale than the rest of the nation, so our spending habits probably won't change all that dramaticaly.

Shalom.

[rwfromkansas]

The infamous Harvard study showed businesses would like to relocate their HQ back to the US under the FairTax.

Also, with the income tax going away, actual taxation would not increase unless you choose to spend like a drunken sailor.