[MACVSOG68]

So if we didn't have an income tax, but a consumption tax, the small business owner would not have to file a tax return indicating how much he had collected? Why do you ask a hypothetical question that can't be answered?

I don't think I'd have a problem answering that one. A small business owner would of course, have to file indicating how much his sales were and how much he had collected in taxes, just as he does now.

[philman_36]

I don't think I'd have a problem answering that one.
Well, good for you! And I don't expect your answer to be anything other than your own preconceptions posited upon the hypothetical itself.
A small business owner would of course, have to file indicating how much his sales were and how much he had collected in taxes, just as he does now.
Hypothetically speaking, of course.