Posted on 06/10/2005 11:13:37 AM PDT by Always Right
ping
You are right. The system we have now that allows those with the most money to buy their way out of paying income taxes by renting congressmen and double and triple taxation from federal and state and local income tax and corporate tax and SS tax and medicare tax and capitol gains tax and then when we die, death taxes, not to mention the BILLIONS of dollars we spend just trying to comly with the 50,000 pages of tax laws is SOOOOOO much better than one single tax paid when an item is purchased new by the end user.
you forgot, "Women, minorities to suffer most....."
We all get tired of of having to post these arguments in every NSRT thread as if they had never even been considered, so this will make a nice reference thread.
Then be honest about what it offers. Don't give me fantasy analysis to sell me the plan.
Misinformation ping
Flat tax is the way to go.
Oh yes, let's get all of the debunking together in a single place, shall we?
7. Underground Economy still not taxed. The NRST advocates falsely claim that the underground economy now will be taxed. Nothing could be further then the truth. Sure, when the money re-enters the legal economy the money is taxed, but that is true today. But will the drug dealers and prostitutes remit sales tax for their goods and services under the NRST? Absolutely not, this portion of the economy is still invisible to the tax collector and therefore not taxed.
This is a strawman argument that completely ignores that even prostitutes and drug dealers DO NOT pay income taxes but they still have to buy groceries and appliances and furniture and automobiles. No matter how you spin it, this is a net GAIN for the government.
Then what option do we have? The current tax system is outrageous, what's the better path to follow?
Why not? Why shouldn't someone post this in every NRST propaganda thread posted by shills for the fraudulent FAIRTAX.ORG?
Wrong. The customer will pay $100 and the seller keeps $70 and sends $30 to the government.
With the elimination of federal reporting, states will have to replace their personal and corporate income receipts, with a sales tax.
Again you are wrong. Nothing in the Fair Tax bill requires states to go to a sales tax and drop their current income taxes. With me no longer filing a federal income tax return, how does that prevent the state from having me file an income tax return?
And in the tax inclusive/tax exclusive debate, the correct and proper way to do it is tax inclusive if you are comparing it to income taxes, becase income taxes are tax inclusive.
Also, no one will try to buy goods overseas to avoid this tax.
People currently buy items overseas and have to declare them when returning to the country if they are valued above a certain level.
Brookings Institute economist William Gale (National Retail Sales Tax, September, 2004) calculated that about a 60 percent sales tax would be required to be revenue neutral.
Mr. Gale also decided to exempt a whole plethora of items from the fair tax that ARE NOT exempted to come up with his calculation.
The NRST advocates falsely claim that the underground economy now will be taxed. Nothing could be further then the truth. Sure, when the money re-enters the legal economy the money is taxed, but that is true today.
Just how much federal income tax, FICA, etc... are drug dealers paying on their income? ZERO.
But will the drug dealers and prostitutes remit sales tax for their goods and services under the NRST? Absolutely not, this portion of the economy is still invisible to the tax collector and therefore not taxed.
Just as it is invisible to the tax collector today.
According to Bruce Bartlett, 'thus whatever revenue is gained when drug dealers spend their ill-gotten gains will be lost because no tax was collected on their drug sales.'
And today the drug dealer is paying zero income taxes, zero fica, and zero federal sales taxes (after all, they are only paying some excise taxes on gas, phone, utilities, etc... which are not sales taxes according to you). So, it is a net gain for federal tax revenue under the fair tax.
Lower and Middle Income pay more
Being that the bottom 50% of income earners pay ZERO federal income tax its about time they started paying their fair share.
One amazing thing is under the Sale Tax is that government somehow raises money by taxing itself
The purpose of the government paying the Fair Tax under the Fair Tax plan is not to raise revenue, but for the government to compete on an EQUAL basis with private activity in the market. Currently the government enjoys a tremendous advantage with its tax free status.
So if the state of Alabama pays its clerk $30,000 in salary, it would be liable to pay the federal sales tax of $9000.
Again your wrong. An employer (be it government or private sector) does NOT pay a "sales tax" on an employees salary.
And if you are a Flat Tax supporter, remember, our current tax system started as a Flat Tax. Has worked out wonderfully hasn't it. Long live the Flat Tax!
I agree. I do not like these "consumption" based taxes. It seems to me that when the economy tanks, the flucuation in tax revenue will be extrememly drastic and it may encourage other "temporary" taxes...
The best argument for a sales tax is because it means
the government would need to keep NO records on
the individual taxpayer.
The second best argument is that it means the taxpayer
would have to keep (and maintain for years) NO records
of his transactions.
That adds up to a lot of freedom from the prying eyes
of the state, and that would be worth paying a bit
more at the pump.
I personally would prefer the NRST to an income tax. A flat tax is a distant second, but still vastly better than the current system.
Note the point 4 in the original post. It sure looks like the number of filers is counted twice by including both the 1992 and 1993 tax years.
Nothing is gained. Whether it be a sales tax written on a receipt or embedded taxes that are hidden in the item, both capture the tax of prostitutes and drug dealers once they make a legal transaction. For BOTH systems, legal transactions capture tax, illegal transactions do not. It makes no difference in terms of collecting taxes from prostitutes and drug dealers. The same amount of illegal activity remains un-taxed, unless you think the prostitutes will submit their 30% tax for their services.
Our current tax system was originally a flat tax.
No flat tax will stay flat for long.
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