this makes too much sense - it'll never pass,,, the ability of congress to tax, spend, & buy/repay votes to ensure election/re-election is sacred to incumbents, candidates, & their supporters.
In response to Harold Szerlip's letter Nov. 18 ("Fairness? The well-off should pay more"):
The Fair Tax, for those who may not be familiar with the term, is a proposed replacement of our current tax code, the IRS, and all of the following taxes: the individual income tax, the alternative minimum tax (AMT), corporate and business income taxes, capital gains taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes (along with all other federal payroll taxes), the self-employment tax, estate taxes and gift taxes.
All of the foregoing would be replaced by a single-rate personal consumption tax of 23 percent, collected only once at the cash register or sales office, on new goods and services.
In order to alleviate the burden this would place on low-income families, many of whom pay no income tax under the present system, a monthly "prebate" check would be sent to every American household, based on family size, regardless of income level, in an amount calculated to cover the basic necessities of life (food, utilities, etc.).
The tax percentage comparisons cited by Mr. Szerlip in his letter are contrived to suggest an unfair tax advantage for "the well-off" under the Fair Tax plan, which is patently untrue. Certainly, wealthier families will spend more than the norm and will continue to pay the larger amount of tax as a result.
Why should anyone care what percentage of their income this tax represents? It's all based on how much of our income we want to spend on the stuff we want. What could be fairer? And who among us would rail at the thought of the demise of the IRS?
I strongly recommend you spend about 10 bucks and buy The Fair Tax Book written by Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder.
Terrence Bedell
Appling
Comments
this makes too much sense - it'll never pass,,, the ability of congress to tax, spend, & buy/repay votes to ensure election/re-election is sacred to incumbents, candidates, & their supporters.
Mr Bedel, this simple, succinct and concise explanation of the Fair Tax terrifies people that want change we can believe in. Go figure. From the perspective, "knowledge is power", the "unpowerful" want things to stay as they are .... unbelievably confusing and burdensome.
That which is simple and cannot be adjusted to the benefit of specific groups takes away the power of the congress. Remember, most of our representatives are lawyers. They truly have your best interest at heart and will always treat every one fairly.
The "Fairly Stupid Tax" is just the nail in the coffin the auto industry needs to insure it will be driven into bankruptcy. And, if you want the country to look like Cuba, support it. Lastly, if you must tax consumption and destroy it, go instead to a national sales tax on cigarettes so the proceeds can be used to expand Medicaid to cover the 50 million uninsured working poor, begining with their children(S-CHIP).
hyper, your cars would cost 30% less due to no corp income tax, well that is if the big three auto makers make taxable income
I agree stadry...:-)
Retired Army. Please show the source of your calculation that your tax would go up by 3%. I would be interested in seeing how you came up with that, provided you didn't pull it from where I suspect that you did.
Dooley - "if" is what it's about......taxable income and there won't be any because people won't by new cars........just used ones that get recycled to avoid paying a tax because people will do anything to avoid being taxed. Meanwhile we will end up with the equivalent of Cuba where the streets and filled with 1952 Chevys. So, if you want a tax that is an intelligwnt alternative, read Forbes and his 12.5% Flat Tax.
hypertension. Are you saying that no NEW goods will ever be bought again? Oh the ignorance. What about those "super wealthy" that people like you seem to envy so much. Don't you suppose THEY will keep buying the new flashy cars, therefor shifting the tax burden more to the rich.....and the class envious left wants it!
NO...I believe that ALL person's will consume enough to fuel the economy. I would still like to see how YOU calculate your 3% increase. In order to increase your taxes, if you make under 200k a year, you must already be consuming beyond your means.
Good ol' Retired Army. Ask for a source and he quotes some generic biased blog instead of actual calculations that were asked for.
Sister, Retired Army pulled his calculations from the same place he pulls everything else he posts on here. I'm sure it's kind of hard to get past his head. His reference uses sales tax and does not address the elimination of all other taxes other than state/local taxes (income tax, federal pay roll taxes, corporate taxes they pass to consumers).
RetiredArmy, the article you refer to in factcheck claims to be based on a report by the advisory commission on tax reform. The sole purpose of the commission was to disprove the Fair Tax Plan. They started their report with a series of false assumptions and then went on to show why the fair tax wouldn't work, based only on the false assumptions. Really, read the fair tax book. It's simple to understand and well referenced. Knowledge isn't a bad thing.
The Fair Tax is revenue neutral. Everyone receives their full paycheck. Embedded taxes are removed and they are about 23 per cent. Everyone receives a prebate. Prices of goods and services drop by 23 per cent. Eliminate the reviled IRS and the 9 million word code and regulations. Compliance costs the American people over $200 Billion dollars per year and 6.5 billion hours in time spent to comply. $33.00 of every $100.00 is seized from your paycheck and then they charge us some more to comply. Business has to study tax effects before producing a new product. Many times deciding not to manufacure because of taxes. $11 Trillion dollars is stored in banks offshore and will not return until the tax system changes.
You can give 50 accountants 50 tax returns and not one accountant will come up with the same answer on those returns. None of them will be correct. The 40,000 lobbyists on Kstreet in Washington DC love the income tax. They spend a lot of time working on congress to get a tax break for the business or industry they work for. Every line in the code favors someone at someone elses expense. The graduated incme tax came directly for the communist manifesto.
I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that "Retired Army" never read the book. Just like EVERY SINGLE person I've talked to that is against it.
The site given by Retired Army is not an analysis at all, simply a time worn "hit piece" that's been used, reused and recycled over and over again. BTW, the implementation of the FairTax would greatly reduce the impact of organized crime as well as the many other underground economic endeavors. Every slam against the plan has been addressed in the two books out on the subject. I know that those of us who are unfortunate enough to have attended government schools are at a disadvantage, but we can still read. RA should try books instead of agenda driven websites. The only people hurt by the FairTax are politicians and the IRS.
Retired Army....have you read the book?
No? It figures....just another person spouting off about things they know nothing about. If you HAD read the book, it would answer all the problems you noted. Maybe you should make the effort to inform yourself, and stop letting the media do it for you.
The taxexpert is not much of an expert. What he/she fails to mention or conveniently leaves out, is that for prices to fall 23%, wages to employees, whose taxes are already in the price of the product, will also have to fall by 23%. Think you will be keeping all of your paycheck with their flawed theory? Maybe you will but expect to pay at least the real number which will be at least 30%. The fair tax is a fraud brought to you by millionaires Boortz and Linder so they can pay less in taxes. If they pay less, guess who will pay more.
Sjgraci...have you read the Fair Tax book? Explain why wages must fall 23% Then maybe you can explain why on the other post you said they must fall 22%. You can't even get your misinformation right.
SAX I read the book. Did you read the above comments I was responding to? Apparently not. Taxexpert claims products would majically drop 23%. For that to happen, expenses such as wages that have taxes imbeaded in them would have to fall 23%. It does not take an economics genius, just someone with more intelligence and comprehension than you.
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