Posted on 04/19/2007 1:55:56 AM PDT by Man50D
Fair Tax ping!
This is over and above the small detail that the Demonrats are in charge of Congress, so any reform that doesn't make government bigger and more glorious will never see the light of day.
Fair tax = DOA.
Sounds like a massive tax increase to me.
The only way this could work is if there was a constitutional amendment banning payroll taxes, income based taxes, toll roads, excise taxes, fees for service, and all of the other countless gimmes the federal and state governments have imposed over the years. Otherwise, they’ll just want more and they’ll take it. The lawsuit over the phone tax is a classic example. Some people paid that tax for sixty years. They got a $30.00 credit, if they knew enough to take it on this year’s 1040.
Actually, it's 29.87% when stated as a normal sales tax rate.
If you are comparing it with an inclusive tax rate such as an income tax then it's reasonable to call it 23%, but most people think of sales taxes as exclusive, i.e., calculated on top of the sale, not as part of the sale price.
For instance, if you buy a $100 coat under the FairTax regime, you will pay a total of $129.87 with FairTax included, not $123.
The 23% inclusive rate comes from you paid $29.87 in tax on the whole $129.87 paid out ($29.87 / $129.87 = 23%).
I myself find it very misleading for fellow FairTax advocates to state a sales tax as an inclusive tax rate since virtually no other sales tax is stated as such. I am in favor of a national retail sales tax, but I am not in favor of trying to mislead anyone as to the actual tax rates involved.
Dream on, buddy.
Ping
The Fair Tax advocates don’t understand among themselves what their tax will lead to, VAT.
This will never happen. Any tax system the feds use is for the manipulation and control of the people first then for revenue collection.
Is it perfect? No system is, but it is a heck of a lot better than the current system which the pols use to reward favored constituencies and punish others. No worry about the Gestapo, er IRS taking your assets without court order.
Investments would be made on the simple desire to make a profit rather than be distorted by the need to avoid taxes.
IMO, the fair tax would unleash a productive era the likes of which have not been seen since before the 16th amendment.
I’m willing to try anything that will replace this current tribute to Marxism tax we have now. I’m sure the various collectivists who live off the gestapo thievery will squeal, but I don’t care about them.
the fair tax would unleash a productive era the likes of which have not been seen since before the 16th amendment.
Until some politician figures out a way around the "Fair Tax" to promote his own agenda. We see end runs around the amendments to the Constitution alll the time.
WRONG! Read the book. The $100 coat has an inbedded tax when you buy it. 23%. If That is removed the coat is actually 77 dollars. Now when you buy the coat add on the 23% and the coat is still a hundred dollars.Not 123.00 Want to get around that? Buy it used and no tax.Same with cars and the like.This is really a great idea because you can decide how much tax you pay not the other way around. Like I suggested. Read the fair tax book.Or you can go to FAIR TAX .ORG.
What is there magic about a 23% tax rate? Why not 24%? Why not 50%? Why not 100%? How about 200%?
Answer: there is no magic, there is no limit. They can raise taxes incrementally until you wind up paying $20.00 in taxes to buy $10.00 worth of groceries. And they don’t have to stop there. The sky is the limit.
And the selling point will always be, “Oh, it’s only one more percentage point. How much can that hurt?”
I live in Illinois, and I already pay 8.75% in sales tax. So you’re talking 31.75%. Plus with the abolition of the Federal Income tax they will either abolish the Illinois income tax, or I will still have to go through all the April 15th gyrations in order to calculate my Illinois tax. No saving of my time then, is there? More likely they they would abolish the Illinois income tax and raise Illinois sales tax rates. What do you think the additional rate will be, 8%, 9%, 10%? Now we’re talking a 40% tax rate, and this is just at the introduction of our brave new tax world.
If you want there to be less of anything, tax it. And it will work with this as well. If you tax spending, people will try to avoid spending. Which will kill retailers, anybody who sells.
And the end of IRS audits? Forget it. Once over a third of their receipts are money that the retailer is collecting for the government, the tax audits will become worse, not better. Any mistake anybody selling anything makes on their sales tax returns will put them out of business. There's too much money involved.
I would suggest taking up the repeal of the 17th Amendment. That might actually improve things.
The 23% sales tax would replace the embedded taxes you already pay. The price of most retail items wouldn’t change (or change very little).
And while you’re right about the mentality of a Democratic congress, we can get the FT passed if we apply constant, relentless pressure to congress. The fact that the FT is now being discussed on the House Floor is proof of that.
“For instance, if you buy a $100 coat under the FairTax regime, you will pay a total of $129.87 with FairTax included, not $123.”
That is completely wrong. You either haven’t read the Fair Tax plan (or the book that explains it) or you are deliberately misrepresenting it.
Also, I'm slightly confused. Lets say I sell a collectors piece of fine art for 10,000. If the tax is inside that number, who eats the 23%?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.