Posted on 12/24/2007 7:55:05 AM PST by Alex Murphy
WASHINGTON — Mike Huckabee, one of the most conservative Republicans in the 2008 presidential race, has embraced one of the most radical ideas on the campaign trail: a plan to abolish all federal income and payroll taxes and replace them with a single 23% national sales tax.
The idea -- dubbed the "fair tax" by proponents -- has been a political asset for Huckabee; its well-organized backers have helped catapult him from the back of the presidential pack to its top tier.
Sales tax proponents have tapped into seething voter hostility toward the Internal Revenue Service to become a below-the-radar political force, popping up at campaign events and candidate forums in Iowa and elsewhere.
The efforts on Huckabee's behalf by sales tax advocates helped spur his surprise second-place showing in an August Iowa straw poll -- the breakthrough that marked the beginning of his rise in the state and nationwide.
He is the only major presidential candidate to make the idea central to his campaign. "The first thing I'd love to do as president: Put a 'going out of business' sign on the Internal Revenue Service," he said at one debate.
Some wonder, however, whether his embrace of the plan eventually could turn into a liability.
The sales tax proposal has been around for years but languished on the fringes of practical politics and policy. Tax professionals generally regard the idea as impractical, regressive and even "crackpot," as one critic puts it.
It has gone nowhere in Congress. The 2005 Presidential Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform soundly rejected the idea. And many politicians shy away from it because it is easy for opponents to portray it as a huge tax increase -- as Democrats did in a 2006 Senate race in South Carolina.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I was describing myself!!!! Anyone in the transportation industry (independent contractor status) who can legally write off a shitload of mileage (70% or more of gross income at 48.5 cents a mile) will through the OFFICIAL FAIR TAX COMPUTATION DEVICE/CALCULATOR will have less purchasing power!!! My personal status (calculated in triplicate) brought forth a NEGATIVE 2.8 percent of purchasing power and an INCREASE of 880 dollars in taxation.
Which of the 2 calculators did you use?
It already was a “$130 visit” under the IT.
ope, it’s a tax refund - and it is so described in the bill. An entitlement is a different thing but you seem to not grasp that.
That was answered in detail in post #282. You apparently missed that.
And now it's a $130 visit under the FairTax. Thanks.
I get the same prebate whether I spend up to the poverty line or not. I could spend less and still get the prebate. How is it a refund if I get more than I paid? My kids didn't pay any sales tax, they get a prebate. LOL!
An entitlement is a different thing
1 a: the state or condition of being entitled : right b: a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract
2: a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group; also : funds supporting or distributed by such a program
Sounds like that describes the prebate.
No, it’s less than that since the effective tax rate is what applies and that will certainly be much less than your proclaimed “30%”.
LOL! You're not very good at math, are you. The receipt will list the price ($100) plus the tax ($30). The fact that I get a prebate or not will not make the number on the bill smaller.
and that will certainly be much less than your proclaimed “30%”.
You had your chance to tell me what the price of a doctor visit will be if the FairTax is added to a $100 bill. Perhaps you'll try again? LOL!
Which Huckabee is this? The fat one or the thin one?
The FairTax bill describes the prebate as:
“Each qualified family shall be eligible to receive a sales tax rebate each month.” A tax rebate is typically referred to as a reduction in taxation demanded. The prebate is a tax refund as it says in the bill.
An entitlement is something created by a law that must be funded by congressional apportionment action - typically each congressional term.
If your kids live in your home as a family unit, they don’t get a prebate ... you do, considering them as additional kids in your family.
You seem to not understand what an effective tax rate is.
You seem to not understand what a receipt is.
You obviously did not use whichever calculator you used correctly. Most of the things you describe would most probably not be taxed under the FairTax. As an independent contractor ALL ot those expenses would be business to business transactions and therefore not taxed.
Please re-calculate with that reality in mind.
You should read up a bit on what it is and how it operates instead of guessing.
As I said, you do not seem to grasp the difference.
They're entitled.
An entitlement is something created by a law that must be funded by congressional apportionment action - typically each congressional term.
Social Security is an entitlement. Not funded each term. Try again?
If your kids live in your home as a family unit, they don’t get a prebate .
Each kid entitles me to a larger prebate. Got it. LOL!
A receipt for my doctor visit is clearly defined?
What it shows is the marginal tax rate not the effective tax rate.
A bill from my doctor visit today shows $100. Why are you afraid to tell me what the bill will say after the FairTax? What are you afraid of? LOL!
Sir, I have an ACCOUNTING DEGREE!!!! I know a thing or two hundred and two more about the subject than you do!!!! Son-of-a-bitch!!!!
I have had this particular discussion with about a hundred people and after going through this with them, every one of their reactions have been the same...OHHHH SHITTTTTT!!!!!
Quit acting like a hognostic ,illiterate sack of shi’itim wood!!! I know how to calcuate the fair tax!!!! For ninety percent of the population it’s a great idea. HOWEVER, if you work in an INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR INDUSTRY—particularly the restaurant and courier/transportation industries, then this DOES NOT WORK TO YOUR ADVANTAGE.
In any industry ,ANY OF THEM, where you can write off five-sevenths of your income or more, the fair tax is irrelevant. And don’t think the rat bastards at the IRS don’t know this. This is why the SUBSTANTUALLY INCREASED the EITC credits!!! It was done on PURPOSE.
I have used both of them. In fact there are FOUR of them. The negative 2.8 npercent was the best of the bunch!!! THe worst was minus 9.2 percent.
By the way, I don’t make “Jack Shit!!!!” Nor do I make up the undigested corn in Jack’s shit!!! Nor I have ever created a colostemy bag for it. Quit being a HOGNOSTIC USED COLOSTEMY BAG!!!! I know more about my livelihood than you do.
The fact is, the fair tax works for most but not for all!!!!
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