Sometimes this will happen. More power to them. It happens now sometimes too. Who hasn't asked a contractor what his cash price was? It's always less because they won't report the income and they can pay their employees under the table too which saves on fica, etc. (think embedded, hidden costs, those go down with NRST.) People who make money on tips rarely report all their income either. It will happen, I'm just saying it will be a wash at worst, but probably evasions will go down.
But think about it. Who can provide goods more cheaply, Walmart, or back ally vendors selling socks, laundry detergent and doritos? Even with the 23 cent tax, Walmart will be cheaper, because of their economies of scale. Anyone big enough to compete with Walmart will not be able to cheat and get away with it. And remember, the rebate up to poverty level will ensure the poorest among us are not impacted adversely.
This is all window dressing anyway. The best part is getting back to financial privacy. It should not be the govenments business what I spend or save. NRST makes us more anonymous, no IRS threat. That's why the politicians want the status quo.
Funny how 'FairTax' advocates claim great evasion under our current income tax, but say there won't be ANY evasion/smuggling when it comes to a 30% sales tax rate, PLUS the STATE sales tax.