“So who would collect all the money from those 20 million filers; the ghost of IRS agents past?”
In most cases, the states would collect the NRST on behalf of the federal government and remit the funds to them. In most states, retailers are already filing sales tax returns and adding an NRST would involve adding an additional line to that filing. Both the states and the retailers would be allowed to keep 1/4% to defray their administrative costs. The current system, which imposes a much heavier administrative burden on businesses, has no such provision.
You do understand that under our so-called “voluntary” system of taxation, IRS agents do not collect the taxes, right? Most IRS agents do audits or otherwise pursue those who don’t “voluntarily” pay the proper amount. However, if you ask 3 different IRS agents the same question about tax law, you are quite likely to get 3 different answers. Is it any wonder that we need an army to enforce such an arbitrary and subjective system? Under the FairTax, those complexities simply disappear. I have been through sales tax audits with businesses that employed me, and I can tell you that they are trivial compared to income tax audits.
Perhaps the larger issue, however, is one referenced by a previous poster, which is, what business is it of the federal government to delve into every detail of your personal finances? If you no longer have an intrusive tax system, you no longer need an intrusive agency to enforce it. That is what we mean by eliminating the IRS.
Oh I see. By eliminating the IRS you really mean reducing the size of the IRS. I understand eliminate sounds better, and that is important when you are trying to sell a new program, but it is still a misleading use of the language. The IRS is not going away.