It might eliminate an organization named “IRS,” but there must be some collection group to enforce & receive the sales tax.
In terms of the IRS, it might be fine to start over in any case, whether a flat tax or consumption tax. They’ve pretty well blown their credibility.
A flat tax is an income tax. I know that, but the assumption is that the code as we know it goes away, and we start fresh with politican’s having to manipulate their way back to scheming and robbing the people and the economy.
I’ll live with anything that pushes the reset button.
All of the onerous “prove that you’re innocent while we prosecute and penalize your guilt” would still be in place along with the $11B IRS expenditure each year for that purpose in our police-empowered arm of the government.
With the FairTax the normal tax collection and reporting would be done by the retailers involved forwarding the funds to the individual state, and then the state would likewise collect and forward the funds to the Treasury Department (since there would no more be an IRS). The merchant and the state are both paid to perform this service as there is no unfunded mandate in the tax collection/forwarding process as there is under the income tax where employers must jump through all sorts of hoops to perform such income tax functions without recompense.
There are various penalties in the FairTax bill but the onus of enforcing the tax would be upon each particular state ... and it would be done against the merchant rather than against an individual taxpayer.