Boortz, The Fairtax Book, p 83:
First, remember that the poor - along with everybody else - will no longer have Social Security taxes or Medicare taxes withheld from their paychecks. Whatever they earn, they get on payday. For most of those we categorize as poor, this would mean an immediate 25 to 30 percent increase in their take-home pay.
Second, remember that that 22 percent is already inflating the retail prices we all pay in the form of embedded taxes buried in the cost of all consumer goods. As soon as the competitive forces of the free market work their magic, as they always do, consumers of all incomes will be paying at least 20 percent less for virtually everything they buy, including the basics of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Yes, they'll have to pay the new national sales tax - but when you factor in the lower prices caused by the disappearance of the embedded taxes, you'll see that the total price paid for consumer goods will remain very nearly the same.
Boortz as of today:
The extensive research behind HR 25, The FairTax Bill, shows that the average embedded taxes in every consumer product or service is about 22%. In some industries, such as leather goods, the embedded tax is smaller. In other industries, such as homebuilding and construction, the embedded tax is higher, but it averages out to somewhere between 22 and 23%. With the passage of The FairTax Bill, those embedded taxes disappear. These embedded taxes include the combined tax burdens of all entities involved in bringing those goods or services to market, and that includes you, the employee, and the taxes you incur as a result of your employment.
We write in The FairTax Book that the competitive pressures of the marketplace will force prices down when embedded taxes disappear from the cost of retail goods and services, and we cite 22% as the average amount of those embedded taxes. Does this 22% include the income and payroll taxes that are paid by employees? Yes, it does. So ... what does this mean to your paycheck after the FairTax becomes law?
When the FairTax is implemented, and when business and personal income and payroll taxes disappear, your employer is going to have to make a decision. He will either take some or the entire amount he had been withholding for federal income and payroll taxes and add it to your weekly check, or he will readjust your pay figures so that your entire paycheck will be equal to what you used to call "take home pay" before the FairTax. The employer may also decide to do a little of both. Either way, you can see that the amount of money you actually receive as pay – the amount you can put into your bank account – will not decrease, and may actually increase.
To summarize, old Boortz: embedded tax doesn't include employee's tax, more take-home pay than now, post-tax prices same as current price. New Boortz: embedded tax included employee's tax, same take-home pay as now (or possibly an increase), post-tax prices the same as current prices (or possibly more if the employees keep more than their current net)
That sounds exactly like what I thought.
"To summarize, old Boortz: embedded tax doesn't include employee's tax, more take-home pay than now, post-tax prices same as current price. New Boortz: embedded tax included employee's tax, same take-home pay as now (or possibly an increase), post-tax prices the same as current prices (or possibly more if the employees keep more than their current net)"
The older page 83 quote you give says nothing about embedded tax being included in employee's income/withholding tax (or not), but it does say "more takehome pay" with after tax prices (including the FairTax) remaining about the same due to:
"As soon as the competitive forces of the free market work their magic, as they always do, consumers of all incomes will be paying at least 20 percent less for virtually everything they buy, including the basics of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation."
As for the "New Boortz" comments you quote, the only real difference that can be seen is that he now says employee income/withholding are now included in "embedded tasxes". As for the more takehome pay with after tax prices about the same (including the FairTax) - that seems to remain as it was despite your summary since he says:
"He will either take some or the entire amount he had been withholding for federal income and payroll taxes and add it to your weekly check"
... which certainly means a takehome pay increase rather than the "... same take-home pay as now (or possibly an increase) ..." that you have in your quote. If the employer is adding something to your paycheck it is certainly not going to be the same as your previous takehome pay, but instead will be more. Also in your "New Boortz" quote does he say anything about price levels after the FairTax becomes law as you state in your summary.
the only thing that can be seen from the quotes you post, it seems, is that the writer now includes employees income/withholding taxes as "embedded taxes" - which is probably not correct at all. And, in fact, that may have been his intent in the book (which was not definite as I pointed out about your page 83 quote).
So I don't see it as "finally admitting" anything except to perhaps (or perhaps not) mis-classify wage taxation. But then, Boortz is hardly an economist and does not pretend to be, so I see little of any sort of "finally admitting" in your quotes at all.