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Under the status quo, which you support, the vast bulk of our tax load is HIDDEN.

No it's not. I can tell you exactly how much I paid in income and payroll (the bulk of our tax load) taxes last year. I would have to add up every purchase I made last year to tell you what I paid in state sales taxes, which, for all but the most anal retentive spenders, would be virtually impossible.

"I can tell you exactly how much I paid in income and payroll (the bulk of our tax load) taxes last year."

So how much were your indirect taxes and compliance costs which were imbedded in the prices of consumer items you bought?

I can tell you exactly how much I paid in income and payroll (the bulk of our tax load) taxes last year.

I doubt that seriously. And even if you did go back and make the calculations, because of Withholding the money has been taken at the wellhead so that you never had the money in your hands to begin with...in other words taken in a manner designed to make you notice it the least.

And there isn't a chance in hades you can tell me how much you paid in the embedded portion of every single product and service you purchased.

Compliance costs and the tax burden passed along to the consumer is so hidden that only a tiny fraction of Americans even understand their existence.

...to tell you what I paid in state sales taxes, which, for all but the most anal retentive spenders, would be virtually impossible.

Or the taxes you paid for the corporations, which are hidden/built-in to the purchasing price of every single item you have ever bought.

Your opposition to the FairTax has failed to include the benefits derived from casting complete sunshine into the hidden tax system we all labor under now, and routing out the duplicative and deceptive taxation that goes without any amount of scrutiny under current systems.

You missed the point. Keep in mind I too am pessimistic we will ever see true tax reform. But you made a statement that misses the important point.

You said:

"I can tell you exactly how much I paid in income and payroll (the bulk of our tax load) taxes last year. I would have to add up every purchase I made last year to tell you what I paid in state sales taxes, which, for all but the most anal retentive spenders, would be virtually impossible."

The point you missed is this:

As an individual you would not have to keep records of sales taxes just as you are not required now to keep such records. Therefore, the proposed system would eliminate the need for you to keep records of your income for TAX PURPOSES. Surely everyone sees that this would make life simpler.

As a businessperson, you would keep records of sales taxes just as you do now as an addon to all sales (you pass on taxes through sales).

You responded to someone that said current taxes are hidden. Yes they are. In every product we buy, there are a series of taxes that are imposed from obtaining production materials, through production, through payroll taxes and so on. Each of these taxes are part of the price of the final product and no one can know exactly what portion of the final price is due to taxes but it is known to be huge.

You don't see all the CORPORATE TAXES you pay on that product you buy ! And think how many CORPORATIONS your purchases went through to get into your hands !