Posted on 08/15/2005 5:55:06 AM PDT by OESY
A major domestic battle looms this fall, when tax reform-- a centerpiece of the president's bold domestic agenda-- will finally be on the table. The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform is expected to release its findings by the end of September. After the political shellacking the White House took on Social Security, the administration will be strongly tempted to take a conciliatory path that supports only superficial reforms, essentially preserving the status quo of our hideous income tax code.
Such a course would have perilous consequences, economically and politically. In fact, the administration has an opportunity here to boldly retake the initiative, to recover lost political support and thrust an already decent economy into high gear and, at the same time, make America better able to meet intensifying competition from China, India and others. How? By junking the entire federal income tax code and starting over with a flat tax. A growing number of countries are doing this -- and so should we.
The current system is beyond redemption, a beast whose complexity, confusion and outright unfairness have corrupted our economy and society. Americans waste more than $200 billion and over six billion hours each year filling out tax forms. They engage in all kinds of useless economic activity intended to take advantage of the code's complicated maze of deductions and to reduce taxes -- from deducting donations of old socks to making unwanted investments. The waste of brainpower -- at a time of increasing global competition -- is incalculable.
The code corrupts our system of government by encouraging the crassest political conduct and by creating a massive, intrusive federal bureaucracy. One-sixth of the private-sector employees in Washington are employed by the lobbying industry. One-half of their efforts are directed at wrangling changes in the tax code....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
If you hear that then either it doesn't do away with payroll taxes and/or the income tax.
Those 3 claims are more applicable to the present tax system than the FairTax since there is no "reporting" of purchases with the FairTax.
Internet sales would be taxed like any other and foreign sales, don't forget, must be cleared through Customs.
As for your "black market" ... what are you alluding to and does this not go on right now??? Have you any real reason to believe this would increase under the FairTax (even if you can define it) which actually has lower marginal rates than the income tax system?
Your 3rd item is especially interesting since, of course, that goes on in spades right now and seems quite easy for those who do it with little risk of being detected. With the FairTax there are registration requirements for resellers and, with fewer enforcement points, a much greater chance of being detected. If you are talking about falesly claiming business use of personal purchases keep in mind that is fraud and with that sort of dfalcation you are breaking a federal law since you would be certifying something that was false. Perhaps that wouldn't give you pause, but I think it would with most folks.
The prebate check only comes once a year? That will make it more difficult to manage. I thought it is supposed to come once a month.
Currently we give a lot of money to charity etc and have a low tax rate.
I'm not interested in a tax increase. I'd rather just keep buying the $29 version of turbotax and be done with it.
Perhaps I was wrong there but I am not sure. Maybe I should have said it is the responsibility of the sellers to collect the tax and remit it. What the final responsibility of the consumer is I am not sure. Today, if a consumer buys something and pays the tax but the seller keeps it rather than remits it I don't think the consumerr is still liable.
In a word, Rongie, NO!
Income is not reported under the FairTax - only wages. And there is also no payment of payroll taxes to the government, either.
The "filing" of the FairTax amounts to a 2 line report each month and you are well-paid for submitting it along with the tax collected. How much are you paid now for filing and paying your income tax and payroll reports????
And presently the tax payments come out of your gross where with the FairTax, the tax is paid by consumers and is never really part of your gross as it always belongs to the government.
If this country really is about to go to a consumer tax to replace income taxes..... please ping me right before it happens. I'd want to buy a bunch of stock in ebay. :)
Darn! I was hoping they could add it to my welfare check. Sorry, I don't know the strike through hmtl so I just underlined instead. It was lost in the original trasition.
Keep you eyes on the paper. It may be on the back pages but it will probably be there.
Out in the real world, 18 year olds are adults and can take care of themselves. No one needs a tax credit because they choose to pamper an adult that is fully capable of taking care of themselves. You can choose to do so, but you sure as hell don't need or deserve a tax credit because you choose to.
Though you are right, most of the 'incentives' and various deductions and credits are pretty arbitrary.
I'm VERY familiar with the bill. And what I said was that it calls for the repeal of the 116th amendment ... and it does.
As a tax bill the FairTax cannot also be a bill for a constitutional amendment - the requirements are quite different for the two types of bills.
The FairTax website indicates th serious intention to repeal the 16th - not just an idle wish - and the repeal process will be heavily supported by the FairTaxers.
"1. What is taxed? The FairTax is a single-rate, federal sales tax collected only once, at the final point of purchase of new goods and services for personal consumption"
OK
"2. Does the FairTax burden the retail industry? All businesses are tax collectors today"
That’s not entirely true. If the “ Fair Tax” adds a tax to the final point of purchase for services, then we have many, many businesses that will be required to collect taxes that never did before. And the consumer will pay taxes on services where they have never been directly collected before.
Do you pay sales tax on your mortgage? Do you pay sales tax to a lawyer or accountant? Do you pay sales tax to a doctor? Do you pay sales tax to your plumber? Your car mechanic? To your landlord? The answer is no. The cost of taxes is absorbed in their operating expenses and fees they charge. There is a vast number of businesses that are NOT RETAIL and do not collect taxes.
I have a hard time imagining what the reprocussions would be when this segment of our economy, which is larger than retail, will be involved in becoming a tax collector for the government.
"In the case of self-employed people, the contribution is based on the net profit from the business (not the gross income). Calculating the maximum allowed requires you to compute the self-employment tax first. This seems to be the formula, where "CR" is the contribution rate, like .15 for a 15 percent rate: CR * ( ( Schedule C profit - ( 0.5 * Schedule SE tax )) / ( 1 + CR ) )"
Wouldn't it be better if the whole thing were tax free and you weren't subject to any BS regulations of the IRS telling you what is best for you?
If we went to a consumer tax... at say 30%...... why... a used computer would be worth more than a new one. :)
Sounds good to me. I certainly don't want the income tax back again to put my children, grandchildren, etc. through the sorts of hoops many of us have had to jump through because of the income tax system.
Your original post: But you do have to tell them your location, age, and dependency status every month so they can send you the monthly welfare check prebate.
To which i responded "Once a year, not every month." You are making this out to be MUCH harder than it really is. Have you ever filled out a change of address card at the post office when you moved? Same kind of deal. Do you really think that is a burden?
Did you know that under the Fair Tax every cent that you give to Charity is BEFORE taxes? You don't even have to itemize, cause there is no tax return. The same thing goes for college and private school tuition. That fact alone should convince people the FAIR TAX is better than the flat tax. No deductions there.
That is correct. The consumer is not liable if the seller doesn't forward the taxes on.
And I don't need or deserve a tax credit just because I choose to have children. That's my point!
Income is not reported under the FairTax - only wages.You don't think they are the same thing?
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