Also known as a VAT tax.
It allows the government to punish productivity at every single step in the process of wealth creation, no matter how great or small.
The power to tax is the power to destroy.
>Also known as a VAT tax.
Except that all VAT taxes I know of are in addition to others; in my system it would be the ONLY federal tax and only on items sold across state lines.
>It allows the government to punish productivity at every single step in the process of wealth creation, no matter how great or small.
Actually not if all, or even a majority of, the final-product was constructed in a single state; note my mention of the inter-state commerce clause. {Many would argue that this “VAT-ish solution would be more Constitutional than the income tax.}
Also note that if you do sustenance-farming and sell produce in the farmer’s market that you would be paying NO federal taxes. (Unless you are crossing state lines.)
>The power to tax is the power to destroy.
True, but my argument is that the current tax-code is far too complex and riddled with exceptions to provide ANY coherence.
Also I don’t see you talking about my other option {which is STRICTLY an alternative} of a flat-rate income tax with no exceptions.
{I remember someone talking about a system where the federal government’s tax would be presented not to CITIZENS but directly to the states themselves. This has a certain appeal, but I have not given it a lot of thought.}