Things that deemed harmful (taxed, alcohol, firearms) or socially useless (television, movies, chewing gum, hamburgers, soft drinks) can easily be taxed differentially. Similarly for professions. Socially harmful services (rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief) can be taxed higher than socially useful ones (doctor, lawyer, indian chief.)
You left out the ease with which the National Retail Sales Tax can be used for Social Engineering.
As if any income tax, flat or otherwise are not uniquely suited for precisely that purpose and function, including the inherent threat of a powerful bureaucracy with force standing over every citizen of the nation.
The Intent of any income tax is for political and social control not revenue collection.
As the current proposal reads, buying a riding lawnmower to mow your own lawn is subject to tax; buying the same lawnmower to mow other peoples lawn isn't a final use; and thus not taxed. (Similarly for bags of fertilizer.)
Taxation under the legislation is for final use or consumption, not for the use in a business providing final consumption. It seems to escape your notice that the guy doing the lawn mowing for other people, is required to collect and remitt tax for his service from his customers.
I find it interesting you appear to want to continue a system that hides tax from the view of the citizen, rather than assure that each and every voter participates in and is aware of the economic burden levied on us as a consequence of ever growing government.
Things that deemed harmful (taxed, alcohol, firearms) or socially useless (television, movies, chewing gum, hamburgers, soft drinks) can easily be taxed differentially. Similarly for professions. Socially harmful services (rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief) can be taxed higher than socially useful ones (doctor, lawyer, indian chief.)
Yep they are called excise & license taxes and we already do that and have been doing over 220 years now. You figure they are going away? Seems to be a solid tradition of such taxes going back to ole George Washington himself.
This has what to do with the desirability of cleaning the slate with a single rate retail sales tax?