Uh-oh. The Kool-Aid drinking NRSTers are going to be all over this in no time.
Getting the adhominens in early, I see. Guess I had better ping in a few Kool-Aid drinkers to handle the rush. I'd hate to disappoint you YN.
The over/under for this tread is 200 by the end of the day.
Well I certainly hope so, the more that learn of the National Retail Sales Tax and its advantages over the income/payroll tax system the sooner it will be enacted.
- Dramatically reduce the costs of goods and services by 20 to 25 percent.
- Allow you to keep 100 percent of your paycheck, pension, and Social Security payments.
- Gross Domestic Product will increase by almost 10.5 percent in the first year after enactment.
- Compliance costs would decrease by 90 percent.
- Real investment would initially increase by 76 percent relative to the investment that would be made under present law. While this increase would gradually decline, it remains 15 percent higher than under the existing tax structure.
- Exports would increase by 26 percent initially and would remain more than 13 percent above the level under the current tax system.
- Real wages will increase.
- The working poor would experience an increase in real lifetime consumption of between 8 and 14 percent.
- Increases incentives to work by as much as 20 percent in many households, leading to higher economic growth and efficiency.
- Interest rates will fall 25 to 35 percent.
John Linder in the House & Saxby Chambliss Senate, offer a comprehensive bill to kill all income and payroll taxes outright, and provide a IRS free replacement in the form of a pure consumption tax:
H.R.25, S.1493
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.
But I'll say this at least, Bartlett created a nice little strawman (re: NRST) for himself so he could knock it down. He makes some valid points on the gas tax, but his focus is still narrowed down to an over-simplification, assuming that controlling energy costs is the purpose of the proposal -- I strongly believe that it's just one more way for Congresscritters to tax and spend, which is how they maintain their power bases.
`SEC. 902. TRANSITION MATTERS.
`(a) Inventory-
`(1) QUALIFIED INVENTORY- Inventory held by a trade or business on the close of business on December 31, 2004, shall be qualified inventory if it is sold--
`(A) before December 31, 2006;
`(B) by a registered person; and
`(C) subject to the tax imposed by section 101.
`(2) COSTS- For purposes of this section, qualified inventory shall have the cost that it had for Federal income tax purposes for the trade or business as of December 31, 2004 (including any amounts capitalized by reason of section 263A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as in effect on December 31, 2004).
`(3) TRANSITIONAL INVENTORY CREDIT- The trade or business which held the qualified inventory on the close of business on December 31, 2004, shall be entitled to a transitional inventory credit equal to the cost of the qualified inventory (determined in accordance with paragraph (2)) times the rate of tax imposed by section 101.
`(4) TIMING OF CREDIT- The credit provided under paragraph (3) shall be allowed with respect to the month when the inventory is sold subject to the tax imposed by this subtitle. Said credit shall be reported as an intermediate and export sales credit and the person claiming said credit shall attach supporting schedules in the form that the Secretary may prescribe.
Spot on Mr. Bartlett for all the reasons you list and more.
The idea of replacing the payroll tax is similarly unworkable. This system of funding Social Security benefits was created for a specific reason that is still valid. By tying a worker's contributions directly to his benefits, workers tend to view the payroll tax not so much as a tax, but rather as a payroll deduction for his 401(k) plan, life insurance or medical benefits. To the extent that this is the case, the payroll tax is viewed as part of a worker's pay and not a subtraction from it.
Here you are completely full of crap however! Most of the workers I know have long since concluded that the payroll tax is just another way the socialists in government have of getting in their pockets. They regard it as just another tax and DO NOT, if they are prudent, include any benefits they MAY someday recieve in thier retirement planning.
Social security is, and always has been, nothing more that a government run Ponzi scheme and most folks have now figured that out.
* Incredible uptick in productivity by eliminating the hours wasted in completing the many forms, and maintaining copious records for years.
* Eliminates loopholes for the wealthy
* Eliminate need for an army of tax lawyers to create loopholes.
* Eliminates the need for the huge IRS bureaucracy, and the army of intrusive IRS agents.
I frankly only see upside with the proposal to substitute a sales tax for the income tax; but also have no illusions about believing it will ever come to fruition. Our Congress folks derive their power from special favors they can grant through the complex tax code; and it is also in their best interest to hide the taxes in as many shadows they can create. A National Sales Tax provides neither of these 'attributes', and Congress will never support it.
Great idea though.
That would be dramatic if it wasn't pure bullshit.