True, that would enable lower rates generally for everyone and bring a lot more people back onto the tax rolls. I just don't like the government to stake claim to every dollar I make. I agree I don't like opening the door to social engineering with deductions and credits. But I'd also like to see people keep 100% of the first dollars earned as a personal exemption. Everyone gets it and it is the same for everyone - a subsistence exemption. It doesn't make sense for someone on a low income who can barely afford food and lodging to pay taxes then need foodstamp assistance. Overall though I'd still prefer eliminating taxes on wages, and switching to a tax on consumption.
“Everyone gets it and it is the same for everyone - a subsistence exemption.”
But this is based on a false premise. The assumption is that government is not a “necessity” in the same league as food. While the vast majority of federal government is worthless, there is SOME government that is indeed a necessity — national defense, judiciary, penal system, etc. These are the government services that provide relative freedom for the individual without constantly needing to use violence to protect your property. It is morally incorrect for anybody to expect others to provide these services to them at zero cost.
Today the personal income tax collects a total of $1T each year. This is less than 10% of total personal income. I posit that even the minimum wage worker should be required to pay a dime out of every dollar they earn to pay for those service above that I think everyone would agree are necessary and can best be provided by government. Taxing the amount that you term “subsistence level” at 10% will only provide $250B per year and comes nowhere near paying for those “proper” government services. The vast majority (the other $3T) of government services — which we as conservatives think of as improper government spending — will still need to be paid for by taxes on earnings “above subsistence” if you will. So I am not asking the “poor” to shoulder a lion’s share, just a minimum that doesn’t even really cover their share of the “proper” government they benefit from. It is enough of a tax bite, however, to make them aware that government isn’t free.
This “subsistence” premise applies to consumption taxes as well. The FairTax would only need to be 15% to replace the income and payroll taxes, but by the time you add in the prebate for “subsistence” it leaves large groups of people paying nothing and others paying 23%.