It's the tax that France invented. A VAT is the same no matter what you call it. It's insidious and creeping and easy to crank up and up and up.
I prefer the flat tax with exemptions for necessities (so as to not make it too onerous on the poor) and continued tax deferal status for IRAs and 401(k)'s (to continue inducements to save for retirement).
post 15 IT'S NOT A VAT TAX, PLAIN AND SIMPLE
A VAT tax or Value Added Tax is a tax on businesses all the way up the manufacturing process, so when you get to the end retail you have absolutely no idea how much of the price is tax and how much is the cost of the good. Every business pays tax on the items going into production, but every business adds that tax expense to the price on the way up to the next level.
The VAT was invented in Europe to keep the citizens in the dark about how much they are paying in taxes really. It's a dishonest system, that says government doesn't trust its citizens, and citizens don't have the right to rule their own lives.
FairTax has NO tax during the manufacturing process. It can't possibly be any different than a VAT tax than it is. There is NO Country in the world that has trusted it's citizens enough to be honest about what their government is costing them. America will be the first if HR 25 FairTax is passed. Then Europe and all the other countries will have to watch out!
Of course only in America do we have a constitution that will let us throw the bums out if they don't stop the spending after we get tax collection under control, 100% visible and 100% honest. All we need is the will to do it, and 100% of the citizens in the same FairTax boat rowing up stream toward the DC Capital.
witchypooy
p.s. check any high school text book to see what a VAT tax is
It's the tax that France invented. A VAT is the same no matter what you call it. It's insidious and creeping and easy to crank up and up and up.
Not at all, HR25 implements a pure retail sales tax, and does not tax upstream business inputs at all.
Only time the NRST is collected from the customer is on retail purchase of new goods and services.
Retail businesses merely remit the NRST collections the same as their state retail sales taxes, to their state tax agency. State tax agencies then separate out and remit the federal portion of the retail sales tax to the U.S. Treasury. The NRST itself is administered by the states.
All federal income, payroll and gift/estate taxes are repealed and there is no NRST on purchases for business or investment purpose.
Allow me to parse that:
I prefer to remain a slave to the government and report all my income and it's sources. I want the government to tell me how much of my money it wants, how much I am allowed to keep for myself and my family. Finally, I prefer that the government decide what happens to my estate when I die. The last thing that I want is for my widow and kids to get it.
A little harsh? Perhaps, but that is precisely what you are asking for when you say you want to keep an income tax in place. The first income tax was flat. Look at it now. There are 50,000 pages of convoluted, contradictory mess loaded with special favors and an armed army to make sure that you didn't cheat the government.
Is that what you really want? If so, trade in your battle cry for a white flag of surrender.
A VAT and the Fair Tax are not anything alike. To call it an apples to oranges comparrison is being kind.