> The problem is that you’re going to end up with a national
> sales tax and a Federal income tax.
No. The bill abolishes the income tax AND the IRS.
I hope that’s the way it goes, but there will be amendments and it will end up something entirely different. Also, the “prebate” the Fair Tax uses is something that the politicians can play around with. Given that they are giving my money away so deadbeats can have cell phones, I don’t trust them with setting the prebate. If it were me, I’d use Friedman’s 17% flat tax rate after a $20,000 personal exemption...that’s it. The entire tax code would fit on a postcard. I would even go further: If you didn’t pay any Federal taxes in the current year, you can’t vote in any federal elections—nothing in the game, you can’t play. (I’d make a horrible President, but a great dictator.)
By my quick math if you take the current taxes revenue needed to run the government ($3.5T) and divided by the current GDP $15T it would give us a sales tax of 23% +/-.
Currently here in Washington State they do not tax sales on food products purchased for future preparation. Fast food, chips, and anything that is considered for immediate consumption is subject tot sales tax which varies across the state from about 7% to 10.5%.
The 16th amendment says "bullshit." And the IRS won't be going anywhere. You think an audit is intrusive and scary now? Wait until you have to prove you paid taxes on everything in your home.