[Filo]

Fairtax is a joke, and financially educated people know it.

Exactly.

It's not hopelessly flawed, but its backers refuse to admit that it sucks (and is quite unfair) in its current iteration. . .

Main flaws (since I haven't posted this in a while:

1. Prebate is socialist
2. pre-earned/saved money is re-taxed when plan is implemented
3. tax rate is way too high

Retired folks and those approaching retirement, those who have saved and anyone who has attained success are, as always, unfairly burdened by the tax system.

[JTHomes]

Haven’t old people already bought all the crap they need? I’m only approaching 40 and I can’t get rid of all the junk I’ve accumulated so far. :)

[CSM]

“tax rate is way too high”

That is not a fault of the fairtax proposal. That is a fault of the current level of spending. That “high” rate is already in existence today, it is just hidden from you. I prefer that every American gets hit in the face with that “high” rate with every purchase they make every day.

I’d wager that it would sure make a bunch more “shrink the government” types very quickly.

[JTHomes]

1. Prebate is socialist

2. pre-earned/saved money is re-taxed when plan is implemented

3. tax rate is way too high

Actually, I don't like the rebate part of the plan. I think the poor should pay their fair share too, maybe just at a lower rate for necessities. Tax rate is too high, true, but is also too high now. At least people would see more directly what their government costs them. I think though that the benefit of no income tax on your tax deferred savings and your capital gains would balance things out for most people.

[John D]

Most fair taxers do not understand #2 at all.

[PubliusMM]

I am a FairTax supporter. However, I don’t totally agree with the plan as it is currently cast.
I agree that the prebate is a bad idea, and one element that could lead future legislators to attempts at ‘tweaking’. That’s where the current income tax model started going way wrong, years ago, and now leaves us with over 60,000 pages of legalese that likely make a tax cheat out of all of us in one way or another.
In addition, I believe the proposed rate is too high.
Further, I don’t believe the ‘double tax’ argument is a show stopper. I’m sure we can find a way around this concern.
The long and short of it: Taxing INCOME is the wrong way to fund government. Taxing CONSUMPTION is fair, equitable, and less prone to fraud.

And, lastly, I firmly believe that ANY tax reform without SPENDING reform is a recipe for disaster.

We must rein in the Federal government and return it to its Constitutional limitations.

[Man50D]

1. Prebate is socialist

I suggest you read Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. One plank is a heavy progressive tax on income. Communists support any tax on productivity as it will discourage people from working, making them depend on the government and thereby empower socialism. The prebate only covers taxes on necessities up to the cost of living. The amount will be far too small for a household to sustain itself on the prebate alone. At least one member in the household will still have to work just as they do currently.

2. pre-earned/saved money is re-taxed when plan is implemented

Savings will no longer be taxed under The Fair Tax as it is with the income tax since any tax on income will be eliminated. That will more than offset what has been taxed.

3. tax rate is way too high

Based on what data do you make such an otherwise vague and empty claim? The tax burden with the income tax is far greater than the what the rate will be for The Fair Tax. Most people fall into the 15% income tax bracket. Add in the 7.65% payroll tax along with the same rate for the employer matching. Then factor the nearly 23% embedded taxes in every thing we buy due corporate income taxes being passed onto the consumer at each stage of production and the current rate is over 53%! That will be replaced with the 23% consumption tax rate. I don't know about you but I'll take a 30% reduction any day!

[so_real]

1. Prebate is socialist ... ? Then ... the whole concept of the "poverty line" is socialist. The prebate is a mechanism to manage poverty line support. Do away with the poverty line, and the prebate follows along with it. Personally, I think allowing the government (under threat of law) to borrow my money all year long and hope for a rebate in the end is "communistic".

I'm reading the book (http://www.amazon.com/FairTax-Answering-Critics-Neal-Boortz/dp/0061540463/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241638912&sr=8-1 and I must say, so far it sounds pretty good to me.