Posted on 07/23/2005 2:55:18 PM PDT by n-tres-ted
Historians might just view this week and next as the most propitious fortnight for tax reform in some time. First came news earlier this week that a presidential commission looks set to call for the abolition of the Alternative Minimum Tax. Then, next week, the House Ways and Means Committee in Washington will hear another round of testimony as it considers revamping our inefficient, outdated tax system. So we could be at the brink of progress.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Replace the AMT with the flat tax!
There's no difference between the AMT and the local ATM down the street. Both rob you blind.
What in the world is a prebate?
The best idea for tax reform that I have heard is to lower the AMT to 20 percent as a flat rate tax. The old tax system is then left in place. Then you have a choice, take the lower of the AMT or regular system, but once you opt out for the AMT--flat rate, you can't go back to the old system. This is exactly what they've done in HK and it has worked splendidly.
Soo solly, we only use foreign laws, constitutions and customs when it makes the U.S. Gummint (sp.) bigger, scary and more powerful.
Take a look at the Fair Tax. A flat tax would leave the income tax in place, and it would "grow humps" again as the politicians legislate.
Take a look and pitch in!
Scrap the Code!
Replace the income tax with the Fair Tax!
And, abolish the Internal Revenue Service!
If you would like to be added to this ping list let me know.
John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25) offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and SS/Medicare payroll taxes outright and replace them with with a national retail sales tax administered by the states.
H.R.25,S.25
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:
What in the world is a prebate?
Instead of opening the political and administrative rats nest of excepting specific items or persons from paying the NRST at the cashregister, the Fair Tax Act(H.R.25) provides what amounts to a personal exemption in the form of a demogrant that all legal residents will receive; a monthly amount called the Family Consumption Allowence(FCA) equivalent to the FairTax paid at the HHS defined poverty level of expenditure. The FCA is paid in advance, in equal installments each month by check or electronic tranfer to bank account from the Social Security Administration.
The size of the monthly FCA will be determined by the government's Poverty Level for a particular family size, multiplied by the tax rate, and paid to all households regardless of income or actual expenditure. The HHS poverty llevel is a well-accepted, long-used poverty-level calculation based on the cost of a healthy diet comprising 1/3 of total family budget value. The povertylevel statistic is fixed in 1969 dollars updated annually for CPI.
Well said, a_g.
bttt!
There are several reasons that won't do the job. Chief among those, perhaps, is the fact that we're still left with an income tax then would have at least all of the deficiencies of the present system and will have made the AMT a "forever" thing subject to expansion as we go along.
No income tax system touches the huge amount of illegal income in this country - not only the drug trade, but also illegal aliens, prostitution, and just plain stolen money. The FairTax obtains tax revenue from all these sources when the money is spent for taxable items and it also taxes foreign tourists as well.
Then, too, no income tax offers any help to US firms exporting things (which have some component of the income tax incorporated as increased prices) but the FairTax is border-adjustable under the various WTO and other regulations, thereby making our goods more competitive. In addition, imports sold at retail will be taxed helping to level the playing field even more.
thanks. So it looks like a response to those who will holler about losing the Earned Income Credit.
More, it is a replacement for personal exemptions and standard deductions that an income tax offers as it goes to everyone, not just lowend wage earners.
check out the calculator.
I dunno. I remember what times were like before ATMs became popular, and it was damned difficult to get your money out of the bank. You could cash a check at the grocery store for $25, or you could physically go to your bank. Now, with ATMs, you can drive the extra mile to your own bank and pay nothing, or you can choose to go to the closer ATM and pay $1.50.
So while the ATM has made it easier for all of us, the AMT has just really mucked things up. It has to go.
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