I fail to understand how people get excited about a 30% national sales tax on top of what will need to be a 10% state sales tax.
I don't ever remember seeing a number as high as 40% on nationa/state sales taxes combined - but I do agree that a flat tax would be much better IMHO.
I agree with this statement. The IRS can't totally go away unless payroll taxes are eliminated and someone will still need to police the compliance and collection of any other form of tax. Why does it matter if its a VAT, NST or a variation of the income tax? Unless government spending is cut, the total tax they'll need to collect will be the same.
Why does it matter if they take it from me as a dollar bill or 4 quarters, multiplied by several thousand, if they still take the same amount of money. It's like not wanting to paint the livingroom and arguing with your wife whether it will be green or tan.
Dan
Where did you get your numbers? It seems a little high.
The most exciting thing about flat tax is that it eliminates some non-productive work from our economy. Tax Preparation and Tax avoidance strategies are NOT productive at all. They don't add to our GDP. Those who work in this segment will have to shift to real productive work which should create a boom. Another thing about the flat tax, you no longer get penalized for risking capital. That alone would give a huge boost to our economy. Eliminating the IRS, tax code enforcement and court time should really cut down our government expenditures.
If this rumor is true, wait for people (way smarter than me) to analyze the pros and cons of the NST.
Fair point that I have wondered about; however, the fact that it is not "hidden", either in the cost of the goods or by withholding (there are still people who think the government gave them something when they get a "refund" in April) makes a change good. Very few people know what their real taxes are. Something on this order will at least give them the knowledge of the waste, if not the wisdom or power to do anything about it.
Having said that, I'm still of the opinion from the 1960s when sales taxes were coming into vogue that the government, not merchants, should collect their own damned taxes.
>>I fail to understand how people get excited about a 30% national sales tax on top of what will need to be a 10% state sales tax.
Any reform of the IRS would have to include reforming social security ( privatizing it ). The 30% number accounts for social security which is an abysmal failure and doomed for bankruptcy. Privatize social security, REDUCE the size of government and the sales tax could be a lot lower.