You got it wrong. The FAIRTAX rate is 29.87%. Your combined tax will be 37.52%.
"Reign in pork-barrel spending.." - eliminating witholding, and charging 23% sales tax will open the eyes of the sheeple who think "hey, I got back $200 from the IRS this year". Only when the masses realize just how high their taxes really are will they see any need to hold gov't accountable for fiscal abuse of the taxpayer.
I see the rebate as a downside. But without it, the tax reform is a political non-starter.
What guarantee is there that businesses will lower their prices instead of just keeping them where they are and reaping even more profits?
THe competitive market. It's the same reason everyone doesn't just keep raising their price today to make more. Maximum price does not necessarily mean maximum profit.
In any competitive industry, the market eliminates unnecessary costs. If the industry isn't competitive, they already charge what they want.
...this bill doesn't do anything about State, County and City taxes.
No it can't. You have to change state laws from the state. The feds can't change your state's tax laws.
With Washington having a 7.65% sales tax already, this will mean I pay over 30% sales tax for nearly everything.
It could - if Washington taxes everything - services included.
I don't see anything mandating a decrease in Federal spending, either. How can there be real tax reform if spending keeps going out of sight?
We've been trying to control spending for decades. It can't be done under the income tax system. Withholding and hidden taxes (business taxes) in prices prevent most of us from knowing what we really pay for our government.
It used to be that people would say "no tax reform until we get spending under control". Now it is become apparent that there will be no spending control without tax reform. Eliminate withholding. Make taxes visible to the maximum extent possible. Make us all feel the burden acutely. THAT will put downward pressure on taxes and spending.
Once this tax is in place, what guarantee is there that it won't be raised well beyond the 23%
No guarantee - just the ballot box. Pols like keeping their jobs. When any increase (or decrease) in taxes affects every single individual in the US on a daily basis by increasing or decreasing the amount of cash we have to pull our of our pockets to pay for anything - we will all be far more sensitive to tax burdens.
Some economists are now claiming the true rate will have to be over 30% for a National Sales Tax to work with the possibility of it eventually having to be raised to over 50%.
If this were the case, would it not indicate to you that we're already paying a similar amount? That we don't realize it is the problem IMO.
It claims to eliminate the IRS, but what bureaucracy will be started to oversee it and mail out those monthly checks and maintain records of who is registered for them? Will we be getting something worse than the IRS?
It does eliminate the IRS. THere is no reason for it. There will be no more income taxes to collect. There will have to be sales tax enforcement though. 45 states already have them. WRT the monthly rebate, the Soc Sec Admin will send the money. Not necessarily by mail though. To qualify for the rebate, you must be a legal resident with a valid SSN. I don't know about you, but I'd like some enforcement on SSNs.
...if they are really interested in saving citizens money...
I don't think that's their interest.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)