No I do not believe our current tax system is fair; and no, I do not believe our current tax system is simple.
Do you want to change it?
I believe the "power" lies with those who control the purse strings. I believe that the purse is the Federal budget. I believe that the purse is obscenely large regardless of the method of tax collection. So I guess I believe that the "power" lies with Congress, regardless of the method of collection.
Do you see any power in the ability of people to stop spending with aNRST in order to get the govt to cut back on spending>
I believe that the proposed FairTax makes some promises it cannot deliver. I believe it has several good aspects that are worthy of serious consideration; I believe it has others that are seriously flawed.
What are the "serious flaws"?
What do I suggest? well for starters I'd suggest getting realistic about the flaws of the FairTax. Then, maybe, we can talk about other possibilities.
Your perceived flaws apparently disagree with others thus the discussions.
Oh, yeah. The question is: just how big is the planning industry? "I don't know, but it's really big!" does little to inspire confidence in your assessment and even less to help figure out whether it makes a big enough difference to chance a wholesale upheaval of the economy. The source often cited by the FairTax folks, Payne, suggests that it's really not all that big (in GDP terms.)
Cost of tax planning under the current system is a small part of its "flaws". Far larger problems are the fact that it raised product prices for exports and not imports...a NRST would help our exports and allow taxes to be collected from imports...Pretty substantial benefit if you ask me. Personal Privacy is another. Simplicity and fairness count for a lot in my book, as a tax system must be fair to be effective.I'd like to be able to decide how I should save or spend my money without government influence and social engineering. Keep the government out of my bedroom and my financial decisions...
There serious questions about how the future under a sales tax scenario might develop: Will the dramatic growth predicted be inflationary (can production capacity grow at least as fast as the money supply)especially since consumption is predicted to decline in the early years?
Can Congress be restrained from morphing the proposed structure in to a multi-tiered rate structure to make it more "fair" ... you know, tax luxury items at a higher rate, tax necessities at a lower rate, etc.?
Can Congress be trusted to avoid raising the rate or expanding the base (taxing imputed rents on owner-occupied property) if changes in purchasing behavior result in substantial revenue shortfalls?
Can Congress be trusted to not start handing out industry favors by exempting healthcare or energy consumption because they are perceived to be too expensive when taxed?
Can Congress be trusted to not curry political favor with "the masses" by steadily increasing the prebate to effectively "soak the rich" and exempt the majority of voters?
Can Congress be trusted to avoid the invasive information gathering, supposedly done away with, by requiring states to collect similar information on consumers and their purchases under the guise of plugging the tax leaks in the system?
Will the "guilty until proven innocent" premise now afforded the IRS really be changed under the FairTax (since you apparently need to show your receipts to prove you paid the tax if audited)?
Do you really think large numbers of people will stop buying new goods just to send a message to Congress? What will that do to the affected industries (for every dollar you refuse to send to the treasury, you deny private industry three dolllars!)? How do you buy used food or used rent anyway?
Your tagline says: "Question Authority." Well I'm questioning it and you seem put off by it. Work with me and maybe we can find common ground.