Posted on 09/01/2007 6:18:37 AM PDT by Man50D
The Sunday Wall Street Opinion Journal published an article (8/26/07), "Fair Tax, Flawed Tax" (link below) by former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy (1988-1993). It is obvious that the Journal editors and Mr. Bartlett didn't do their homework.
Many citizens will dismiss the FairTax Plan out-of-hand by reading this distorted play on words from the pen of Mr. Bartlett. Dismissing his assertion of the FairTax being connected to the Church of Scientology — a gorgeous lie to behold — he proceeds to lambast FairTax supporters with so-called evidence that it will not work and will cost more at the cash register by tacking on a 30 percent National Sales Tax.
Mr. Bartlett's proclamation of "FairTax" facts lack the knowledge that millions of citizens know from reading the book by radio talk-show host Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder (R.,GA), "The FairTax Book." And the fact that the IRS will disappear from our lives. Those citizens know that Bartlett is way off base on the FairTax Plan.
He gets into trouble right away by giving examples which do not represent the FairTax. Anyone familiar with how the FairTax would work knows that any product, right now, includes embedded corporate-business taxes. So much so, that we citizens don't really know for sure how many taxes we're paying on any one product and service. [Don't Rug Cleaner services and Doctors pay taxes in running their medical practice (business)? Aren't a few taxes passed on to consumers and hidden in the price of those services?]
Researchers and analysts, after years of study and exposing those taxes to the light of day, have ascertained that the estimated embedded taxes are around 22 percent. Folks, that's after withholdings from wages and before the state and local sales taxes are added to your purchase at the checkout. But you'll never know it.
What Bartlett failed to accentuate about the FairTax Plan is the fact that the hidden embedded taxes are eliminated from the price and then, only then, is the 23 percent included. He offers a weak example: retail product price tag, $1.00, adds a national sales tax of 30 percent to make it $1.30. His big Calculation Error exhibits an example unrelated to the FairTax plan at all.
The True FairTax Plan would subtract the embedded corporate tax of 22 percent and add 23 percent —
$1.00 - 22 % = $0.78 $1.00 x 23% = $0.23 + $0.78 = $1.01 OR $0.78 x 29.5 % = $0.23 + $0.78 = $1.01
Depending on how you figure the FairTax math, either way, it comes out about the same.
Another distortion by Mr. Bartlett: The prebate to "all" households is not based on amount of annual income, but on the number of people in a household.
Mr. Bartlett's warped article makes a mockery of the FairTax Plan but also exposes either his lack of knowledge or his complete and intentional distortion. Other FairTax opponents have weighed in with their own skewed versions of FairTax facts, but this article takes the cake when it comes to misrepresentation. It is a brilliant example of how to persuade people to be "anti-something without really trying," much like global warming.
The faithful to our current tax system, promoting class warfare and progressive tax exemptions, are going to fight against the FairTax Plan to the end. The present IRS tax code with its thousands of pages plus more added annually by Congress continues to obey the Second Law of Thermodynamics — order to chaos. Disorder is what we experience now. It is time to replace this monster.
A near-future "FairTax" book will respond to all the criticisms. Both Rep. Linder and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R., GA) have introduced the FairTax bills (HR25 and S.1025) in Congress. You may see the content of the bills online at Rep. Linder's site or through the American FairTax Organization (links below).
Attacked from all sides, FairTax proponents must continue to hammer home to the public the facts versus the distortions. The mainstream media, lacking its own FairTax education, doesn't recognize the errors and distorted lies of those promoting other tax reform agendas and calling them "FairTax" as Mr. Bartlett has done.
We Americans must educate ourselves and understand this total replacement of the IRS plan so we may make informed decisions. Read the book. Explore the links below to truly understand the FairTax Plan and its simplicity. It will benefit all of us — government, citizens and the corporation-business sectors.
Assuming the IRS is completely eliminated and it’s thousands of employees are looking for work, what mechanism exists to collect the revenue generated by the Fair Tax?50 NEW state (turned federal) collection agencies (likely manned by former IRS agents) with 50 different interpretations of the law.
The tax, being included in the quoted purchace price,So it's a hidden tax.
I hear Boortz gives all his 'profits' to charity. And why not? He ought to have to PAY for the free advertising his show gets in this scheme!My guess is it's a tax free charitable trust...It's not exactly the same as writing them a check. He still has access to the money.
"To ensure that income taxes are not reinstated in the future, the FairTax plan also calls for the repeal of the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution"Makes you wonder who really wrote the paper...
What other lies did Arduin, Laffer, & Moore fall for from the Fairtax gang for a paycheck.
The savings to the company has NOTHING to do with the fact that the employees will be taking home their entire income, with the possible exception of the roughly 7.5% savings in the "employer's contribution" to FICA and medicare.Taxing Sales Under the FairTax: What Rate Works?The most recent study I know of by their paid economists has this snippet in their paper.
(39)
"Private consumers would receive lower (gross) wages under the FairTax because producer prices fall".....
The price decrease comes from losing embedded taxes, not “embedded” wages and profits.
Ah. Never mind.
I suspect there would be some decrease in the prices; after all, companies are suddenly not liable for corporate income taxes (or personal income taxes for those that file that way). So there is some savings that they presumably could pass on to the consumer.
Will the “sales tax administration” also oversee enforcement as the IRS does now?
Please don’t misunderstand, I am a fan of the Fair Tax. It’s just that I take a very pragmatic view of it. It AIN’T all sweetness and light with everybody living happily ever after.
I strongly suspect the IRS will not “go away.” Rather it will be renamed the Sales Tax Administration or something and do pretty much the same job it does today, collection and enforcement. Somebody has to do it.
Yes there is some. But to get to 23% embedded taxes you must include the taxes paid by all the employees and owners. The fairtax does eliminate taxes like the employers share of the payroll tax and corporate taxes and such that could be passed to the consumer, but that totals about 8% of costs not 23%.
Yep. No smoke, no mirrors, no little walnut hulls in a row. Fill out a postcard sized form and cut the check. It does not get any simpler than that, and would have saved me 10-15K last year (15% to 10% rate).
Like I said. The IRS goes away due to defunding and is replaced by the Sales Tax Bureau.
IMHO, the IRS is unfairly hated today. All they do is enforce the laws written by Congress. But the IRS takes the heat. So when you say the IRS is being abandoned, everybody cheers that because everybody "hates" the IRS.
However, what ever the tax scheme, Fair Tax, Flat Tax, what ever, a government entity will be needed for collection and enforcement. Call it the Sales Tax Bureau, call it the IRS, call it Incompetent Bureaucrats Doing A Bad Job, it's job will be enforcement and collection.
Nothing EVER changes with you clowns does it?
You can't refute what they say so you just attack them personally.
It's become obvious to everyone Lewis and quite tiresome to boot.
Check out
http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ask_question
Number 25
And you didn’t address at all my question about enforcement.
That will be handled by the US Treasury Dept. -- Exactly how I don't know at present.
And I’ve got another question: I’m starting a new retail business. How do I start paying the NRST? Do I have to notify somebody that I’m now in business? If so who?
The NRST isn't in effect yet. But, if your question isn't answered above in at the site above, go to
http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ask_question
and "Ask the Expert" (Column on the left)
Hope this helps.
Whatever.
YAWNzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Those taxes that the employee will now be pocketing were the majority of the 'embedded taxes' according to the man who did the study. But of course you know more than him.
It's just not possible, if you simply think this through. The majority of the savings would be from the corporate taxes, which the companies would no longer pay. And then there would be lower costs for supplies and services that each company depends on as well. A maximum savings from payroll would be roughly 7.5% of the part of the companies budget that pays salaries. This would NOT be where the majority of the savings would come from. There would also be lower compliance costs as well, both in manpower (a former client of mine once told me that he had to hire an additional person in payroll for every 120 employees, just to handle the "paperwork" for taxes. The company that I work for now gave up a few years ago, and they have ADP handle all their payroll and tax accounting) and time.
Of course, you accuse the supporters of the Fair Tax of using doctored numbers, but is it possible that this person is using doctored numbers as well, but in opposition to the Fair Tax?
Mark
The only way that works is to tax each and every deposit in a financial instution at 10%. No deductions, no nothing.
Investment income: 10%, earnings on retirement savings: 10%, undeposited under-the-table-cash: 0%. Undeposited drug profits: 0%
In a fair system, everybody pays. Our present system isn't fair. As a service provider I realize I'd have to ask my customers for more- as will retailers, however, not being bashed over the head by the IRS each April may make them amenable to the increase.
My bookkeeper only charged $800. to do the taxes for my S-corp and Sole Proprietorship. Countless hours spent amassing all the data and doing Quickbooks journal entries. Was it worth it? No.
You can't refute what they say so you just attack them personally.Pointing out obvious lies is now a personal attack? The Fairtax only exists in your mind. You can't refute what doesn't exist. Words written in a (proposed) law are another thing.
If they couldn't research the bill enough to know that the Fairtax would NOT ensure the income tax would never return what else did they not research?
Of course, you accuse the supporters of the Fair Tax of using doctored numbers, but is it possible that this person is using doctored numbers as well, but in opposition to the Fair Tax?"This person" was hired by the authors of the Fairtax to do the study.
At one time "this person's" name was used in every other post by Fairtaxers as THEE authority on embedded taxes for the Fairtax. It wasn't untill recently that "this person" became dirt when it was exposed that AFFT NOT "this person" was is lying about 22% embedded taxes and 100% paychecks all along...
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