No one is more versed in the intricacies of the subject, than my very own SG, tax reform warrior, than Taxman.
And he has the scars to prove it.
Thank you for the “tax reform warrior” ping, Sweetie. Indeed, I do have scars, honorably earned during the nine years I spent in WDC lobbying for the National Retail Sales Tax, now referred to as the FairTax. Been there, done that!
Senator Cruz is hugely disappointing in his disregard for REAL tax reform! He became a co-sponsor of the FairTax Act(S 155) on March 10, 2015. And, he has not, to the best of my knowledge, ever promoted the FairTax in any of his campaign speeches.
I mean, JeezLouise, if you are going to cosponsor legislation, talk it up Senator!
Instead, Cruz is touting a tired old European tax scheme!
The VAT was first introduced at a national level in France in 1954! Now, the citizens of 140+ countries are burdened with VAT! And, an income tax, too!
VAT is VERY POPULAR with governments!
Let me state for the record that VAT is an evil tax!
• VAT is applied to AFTER TAX INCOME! I.e., you pay your income tax and with what is left buy stuff, on which you must pay the VAT!
• VAT has funded the huge growth and expansion of governments, wherever VAT has been imposed on the poor suffering taxpayers!
See why governments LOVE VAT!
VAT is intentionally designed to squeeze the maximum amount of cash FRom poor suffering taxpayers, wherever it is implemented. A common characteristic of VAT is that it is introduced at a low (generally single digit) rate and then gradually is ramped up to two digits.
Where have we experienced that sort of government perfidy?
The Tax Foundation estimates that the worldwide VAT rate is roughly 16%. (http://taxfoundation.org/blog/how-many-countries-world-have-value-added-tax)
I found a good article about VAT here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2291281.
Here is an excerpt:
“From relatively inauspicious beginnings in the early 20th century, the VAT has been adopted by more than 140 countries and accounts for approximately 20 percent of worldwide tax revenue. Perhaps only the income tax provides a stronger example of 20th-century tax policy convergence. As Sijbren Cnossen wrote, ‘‘The nearly universal introduction of the value added tax should be considered the most important event in the evolution of tax structure in the last half of the twentieth century.’’2
“As the only developed nation without a federal VAT, the United States remains the highest-profile exception to the trend toward VAT. This exceptionalism persists in the face of a growing belief among U.S. tax policy commentators that the introduction of a VAT is either inevitable, or at least a possibility in light of burgeoning federal government debt and spending commitments. This essay examines how the global history of VAT is relevant to the U.S. debate.”
I encourage you to read the paper.
We REALLY, REALLY do not want VAT in the USA!
FairTax is the solution to the USA’s manifold economic woes.
Please help us replace the income tax with the FairTax and abolish the IRS.
Educate yourself at https://www.fairtax.org and then become a FairTax Warrior!