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Take something that now costs $1 - a quart of milk, for instance. With the “Fair Tax,” it would then cost $1.30.
Almost any high school graduate would be able to tell you that the 30-cent tax constitutes 30% of the original price...
That the “Fair Tax” advocates express it otherwise is prima facie evidence they are liars and frauds, or fools.Take something that now costs $1 - a quart of milk, for instance. With the “Fair Tax,” it would then cost $1.30.
Almost any high school graduate would be able to tell you that the 30-cent tax constitutes 30% of the original price...

That the “Fair Tax” advocates express it otherwise is prima facie evidence they are liars and frauds, or fools.

Ok, I didn’t read the book but I did take high school math and I can see that your argument is just plain wrong. Lets do the math:

$1.00 for a quart of milk with a $0.30 sales tax comes out to $1.30. Now if you spend all of your income on milk, what percentage do you pay in taxes? .3/1.3=.23 or 23%

The reason Fair Tax people would say the tax is 23% is because that is the best way to compare it to the income tax. 23% of what you spend on new products will go to the federal government. You are trying to compare apples to oranges. Apples to apples, the Fair Tax is 23%, apples to oranges its 30%.

I can take your flawed high school math further and say that someone who pays 23% of their income actually pays 30%. It can work both ways. If your gross pay was $50,000 and you paid 23% in taxes, that comes out to $11,500 leaving you with $38,500 net. Percentage of income that is taxed: 11500/38500 = .299 or 30% Wow, its crazy how you can play with numbers. The bottom line is that to accurately compare an income tax to a sales tax you have to apply the same method and compare apples to apples.

I can take your flawed high school math further and say that someone who pays 23% of their income actually pays 30%. It can work both ways. If your gross pay was $50,000 and you paid 23% in taxes, that comes out to $11,500 leaving you with $38,500 net. Percentage of income that is taxed: 11500/38500 = .299 or 30%
That isn't math or logic. 11500 is 30% of 38500...so what? What happened to the $50,000?

Try grade school math. Take a pie, cut it into 50,000 pieces. Eat 11,500 of the pieces. What is the percentage of the pieces you ate, to the 38500 piecs of pie you have left?

"$1.00 for a quart of milk with a $0.30 sales tax comes out to $1.30. Now if you spend all of your income on milk, what percentage do you pay in taxes? .3/1.3=.23 or 23% The reason Fair Tax people would say the tax is 23% is because that is the best way to compare it to the income tax. 23% of what you spend on new products will go to the federal government. You are trying to compare apples to oranges. Apples to apples, the Fair Tax is 23%, apples to oranges its 30%.

Tramonto, you are missing his whole point. Sales tax as we normally see it is expressed as ADDED to the price. So comparing it to INCOME tax is comparing apples to ornages and is also why it seems like you are deceptlively trying to tell us the rate is only 23% when anyone who looks at $1 item selling for $1.30 immediately thinks.

Why do you insist on calling it 23%?