- #1
tchitt
The "FairTax" in place of income tax
First of all; I'm not interested in any sort of partisan quibbles as they often degenerate into arguments that go nowhere. People will subscribe to what they subscribe to... I'm just putting this out there to get your thoughts and perhaps to make you aware of something that you might previously have not known about.
Another topic I was posting in got me thinking... and it's rare to find a forum with such a high volume of consistently thoughtful and intelligent members so I thought I'd pick your collective brain on an issue that's somewhat important to me. In today's tumultuous economic times everyone is looking for a fix for what looks like the walls coming down around us in the United States... and many proponents of the http://www.fairtax.org" [Broken] are starting to feel like it might finally have a fighting chance.
The full explanation can be found on the website, (it's a fairly simple idea, unlike our current hopelessly convoluted tax code) but I'll try to explain it here to the best of my ability just in case you don't feel like doing your homework... or you've got too much of it already.
It is a fairly radical plan and a lot of people are initially taken aback by it's deviation from the long established status quo. Basically, it would completely eliminate all federal, corporate, estate, gift, capital gains, medicare, social security... see where I'm going with this? Everything that's deducted from your paycheck, everything you currently pay taxes on... that's gone. All of it replaced with a 23% national sales tax, offset by the fact that you get to keep 100% of your paycheck. If your wage is $15 per hour, you take $15 for every hour that you worked to the bank on payday.
A lot of people are quick to assume that a 23% sales tax is regressive and relieves the wealthy of their current tax burden, pushing more of it onto the middle class. However the lifetime tax liability of a person making $20,000 a year is around 2%... while a family bringing in $500,000 yearly would carry a lifetime tax burden of 20% or more. All while maintaining the current tax revenues generated in the current system. People on Social Security would receive a monthly rebate check (paid in advance) to account for spending on essentials of living up to the poverty level.
This would be one of the largest transference of power from the hands of the federal government back into the hands of the American people. The sixteenth amendment would be repealed and people would have a conscious choice of how much money they're willing to hand over to the government in the form of the choice whether or not to spend their income on new products and services.
I know this is getting long so I'll just make a few quick points.
- Cases of tax evasion would drop dramatically, due to the simplicity of the new system.
- It would improve the economy by removing capital gains taxes, giving corporations no incentive to move overseas in order to escape the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and creating a huge incentive for them to come back creating jobs, and therefore wealth.
-"Used" items would not be taxed in any way whatsoever... only new cars and new homes promoting ownership.
I could go on forever (obviously), and I'm starting to think this might be reading like a sales pitch and if it is I apologize. Anyone with the fortitude to read through this, and the literature scattered over the internet... I'd appreciate your input. Opponents of this measure, especially. I've never learned anything from someone who agreed with everything I said.
First of all; I'm not interested in any sort of partisan quibbles as they often degenerate into arguments that go nowhere. People will subscribe to what they subscribe to... I'm just putting this out there to get your thoughts and perhaps to make you aware of something that you might previously have not known about.
Another topic I was posting in got me thinking... and it's rare to find a forum with such a high volume of consistently thoughtful and intelligent members so I thought I'd pick your collective brain on an issue that's somewhat important to me. In today's tumultuous economic times everyone is looking for a fix for what looks like the walls coming down around us in the United States... and many proponents of the http://www.fairtax.org" [Broken] are starting to feel like it might finally have a fighting chance.
The full explanation can be found on the website, (it's a fairly simple idea, unlike our current hopelessly convoluted tax code) but I'll try to explain it here to the best of my ability just in case you don't feel like doing your homework... or you've got too much of it already.
It is a fairly radical plan and a lot of people are initially taken aback by it's deviation from the long established status quo. Basically, it would completely eliminate all federal, corporate, estate, gift, capital gains, medicare, social security... see where I'm going with this? Everything that's deducted from your paycheck, everything you currently pay taxes on... that's gone. All of it replaced with a 23% national sales tax, offset by the fact that you get to keep 100% of your paycheck. If your wage is $15 per hour, you take $15 for every hour that you worked to the bank on payday.
A lot of people are quick to assume that a 23% sales tax is regressive and relieves the wealthy of their current tax burden, pushing more of it onto the middle class. However the lifetime tax liability of a person making $20,000 a year is around 2%... while a family bringing in $500,000 yearly would carry a lifetime tax burden of 20% or more. All while maintaining the current tax revenues generated in the current system. People on Social Security would receive a monthly rebate check (paid in advance) to account for spending on essentials of living up to the poverty level.
This would be one of the largest transference of power from the hands of the federal government back into the hands of the American people. The sixteenth amendment would be repealed and people would have a conscious choice of how much money they're willing to hand over to the government in the form of the choice whether or not to spend their income on new products and services.
I know this is getting long so I'll just make a few quick points.
- Cases of tax evasion would drop dramatically, due to the simplicity of the new system.
- It would improve the economy by removing capital gains taxes, giving corporations no incentive to move overseas in order to escape the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and creating a huge incentive for them to come back creating jobs, and therefore wealth.
-"Used" items would not be taxed in any way whatsoever... only new cars and new homes promoting ownership.
I could go on forever (obviously), and I'm starting to think this might be reading like a sales pitch and if it is I apologize. Anyone with the fortitude to read through this, and the literature scattered over the internet... I'd appreciate your input. Opponents of this measure, especially. I've never learned anything from someone who agreed with everything I said.
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