>>You know people who buy a new car every 3 or 4 months? I find that difficult to believe.<<
Yep. Three of them took me out for a $453.76 business lunch today. There's a number of normal-looking people out there who have a hell of a lot of disposable income that they just like to spend on luxury junk. My boss' 35k watch for example... that he got to replace the 150k watch that was "too flashy".
>>>You want everyone to try to subsist on food stamp allotments and you think that it a great idea to tax food?<<<
You're out of context.
You asked who decides what is "essential". I responded that "essentials" have already been outlined by various gov't handout operations.
You'll notice I said nothing about taxing food, or existing on a food stamp budget.
Interestingly enough, I could easily get my groceries for the month on the amout of "prebate" my household would qualify for, and eat well too.
Watch collectors will spend anything...just as will collectors of anything will. OTOH, the LUXURY TAX, if you recall, wiped out yacht makers and all kinds of other makers of luxury items and the jobs of those who made them or kept them up.
That $500 figure you used, is off; unless you head a very large family.
Unlike the usual welfare family, I could make nutritious and delicious meals on little, but refuse to give up some of the treats. But food is the least of most people's worries, re the VAT. Clothes, even cheap ones ( maybe more so the cheap ones, because they don't wear as well as expensive ones do! ), with VAT as well as local taxes, will raise the prices that most people will be very unhappy about.
The thing about ANY taxation, is that it can and usually does get raised. The VAT wouldn't do away with local property, income, and sales taxes. There are also examples of states that didn't have sales tax, but added it, or played games with lowering existing sales taxes a bit, when they instituted a state wide income tax, which then becomes a double whammy.
Making all stores and service givers ( doctors, dentists, barbers and hairdressers, etc. ) an arm of the Federal Government, is not a good idea.