[Principled]

HR2525 makes no reference whatsoever to specific items that are tax free. THe reference you read about necessities being "untaxed" is a reference to the "prebate"... a check in the amount of taxes to be paid on necessites in a given month based on family size.

EG I have a wife and a kid, so i'd receive a check at the first of each month (just the SS recips do now) representing the taxes my family will pay on our necessities for the month. The "prebate" amount is figured by multiplying the tax rate (23%) by the HHS defined poverty level for a family of said size.

Under the nrst, the feds don't pretend to know what is necessary for you nor anyone else. Under the nrst, the feds **GASP** leave it up to individuals as to what they decide is "necessary".

No tax system is perfect - the nrst is the best option IMO

[Technogeeb]

HR2525 makes no reference whatsoever to specific items that are tax free

HR2525 doesn't seem (to me at least) the proper way to implement a NRST.

"prebate"... a check in the amount of taxes to be paid on necessites in a given month based on family size

This particular aspect of some of the national retail tax schemes seems very disturbing to me. The idea of the United States government sending a monthly check to every household in the US is a mechanism of socialism at its worst; it is communist-style income redistribution just waiting for a leftist Democratic administration to happen (i.e., just up the "prebate" amount and increase the tax rate accordingly to pay for it, to whatever level of income redistribution that is desired).

I would much prefer simply to not tax entire categories of products (food, clothing, shelter). The elimination of the associated bureaucracy alone would probably make up for any potential loss in revenue. And since many states already exempt food, etc. from sales tax, it isn't as if there is any complication in doing so at a national level as well.

Of course, I would prefer a national retail sales tax to any other tax scheme (short the "prebate" mechanism, which by itself makes the system completely unworkable). One benefit of such a sales tax scheme is that the level of taxation isn't just apparent to the tax payers, but its effects are immediately demonstratable to the government as well. When taxes through such a mechanism are raised to confiscatory levels, the result is a reduction in consumption (and a direct reduction in tax receipts) that is rapidly apparent to government. In other words government can be immediately shown the folly (damage to the economy, and loss in revenue that it receives) of excessive tax rates, something that is somewhat missing from our current (hidden) tax system.