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Locked on 02/18/2008 10:17:33 AM PST by Religion Moderator, reason:
Childish behavior |
Posted on 02/16/2008 3:30:21 PM PST by xcamel
One solution to the nation's long-term fiscal problems that has gained support in recent years is the idea of replacing all federal taxes with a 23 percent national retail sales tax called the FairTax. Unfortunately, the administrative problems inherent in this proposal make it impossible to take seriously, says Bruce Bartlett, former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Treasury Department.
For example, under a FairTax scheme: A worker now netting $800 per week would immediately get a $200 raise and start taking home the full $1,000 gross wage that he is paid; instead of paying income and payroll taxes, workers would pay their taxes when they buy things.
The FairTax would impose a 23 percent tax on all goods and services (this is not really correct, but for now we'll accept it at face value for analytical purposes).
Whether he is better off or not depends on what his effective tax rate is: Assuming he spends all his income and no more than that, he will be no worse off if he now pays 23 percent of his income in taxes. That is, his effective tax rate is 23 percent; in this case, the FairTax is a wash, the worker is no better off or worse off in terms of taxes than he is now.
But what if the worker is now paying less than 23 percent of his income in federal taxes? In this case, he is clearly worse off, says Bartlett: The prices of the things he buys will rise by more than his income rises from the elimination of income and payroll taxes. Conversely, if one is wealthy and in a tax bracket above 23 percent, that person would be much better off. His income and payroll taxes would fall by much more than the prices of goods and services he consumes would rise.
Source: Bruce Bartlett, "Why the FairTax Won't Work," Tax Notes, December 24, 2007.
For text:
Still not willing to answer two simple questions, eh? You remember what they are, right? Just in case:
Q1: If the FairTax has 'zero chance' that congress would ever enact it, why do you anti-FairTaxers expend so much energy fighting it?
Q2: Tell us how you “engineered the largest tax-free family business transfer ever”?
oh, and still can’t force yourself to post without an attack, eh?
The question about “engineered the largest tax-free family business transfer ever” must really strike a nerve.
Seems innocent enough to most of us. You posted that claim and the question is an honest attempt to get clarification. However, lack of an answer proves that you don't have any credibility on FT threads.
Disappear, troll...........
Post #2, items W-Z
You do realize that the FT would apply to booze?
VAT??? Socialism????
Actually I understand what the falling dollar does to everything!!!!
Do you????
I can guarantee you have not read those opinions.
The facts are that an income tax was levied in 1861, its legality was disputed until its constitutionality was settled in 1913. That’s 52 years in the making.
When you get around to doing your own homework, get back to me.
Until then, keep your demands to yourself.
How about finding a chart that includes Social security and Medicare taxes since those will be gone under the Fairtax as well!
And the 23% figure being thrown around is just an arbitrary number that was latched onto because of the supposed 23% income tax cap. Some percentage had to be used for example and comparison purposes. Oh, and I can't figure out which of those pretty colored lines represent corporate tax rates - you know, the group that pays more in taxes than all of the individual income tax payers below the 25% tax bracket combined....
Corporate gross income tax receipts: $380.925 billion.
Individual income tax, 20% bracket and below: $222.031 billion.
And then consider the amount of income tax paid by individuals above the 20% bracket: $750.683 billion. All of a sudden 23% seems to be a bit of a low estimate of the amount currently being yanked out of America's pocket before they even see it.
“Barter Town”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max_Beyond_Thunderdome
because they are not part of the evil marxist (sic) income tax that we’ve been discussing for like 529 posts so far...
Sorry, you bought the dog, you feed it.
“23%” is etched in FT stone, and it’s the stone around your neck, not mine.
They are taxes that would be replaced under the Fairtax and thus MUST be included if one wants to do an HONEST comparison which I well know that YOU do not!
You’re assuming there is anything honest at all about the FT.
Wrong answer.
Do you want a VAT here?
Yes I do.... if we do away with income taxes..which are inhuman and corrupt. And do away with propery tax as well.
The corporations would have a fit..tough luck..they deserve to be humbled...but people would regain some sanity in terms of spending what they do not have.
Good point.
Tacitus - "The more corrupt the government, the more numerous the laws."
“23%” is etched in FT stone, and it’s the stone around your neck, not mine.
Fine. I just pulled out my W2 and guess what? The total of all withheld taxes add up to around 21% of my gross income.
Now, let's talk some more about your pretty chart....
Does it include all taxes that the FT would replace? When redrawing your lines don't forget that some taxes, such as SSI, are matched by employers and will be eliminated too.
Are the quintiles calculated based on the total income of the entire quintile divided by the total tax paid, or does it merely show the average percentage paid by all filers in that group with them equally weighted? Big difference, especially in the lowest and highest quintiles.
Do you have a chart showing more recent years, specifically ones that weren't skewed by the massive rebates that fall in that time period?
And while your at it, I still want to know where corporate tax rates fall on your chart.
Tacitus - “The more corrupt the government, the more numerous the laws.”
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