Why fairtax.org?
1. Compliance costs are orders of magnitude less
2. Less intrusion into the financial affairs of citizens
3. Much more transparent
1. Are they really? It just seems like they are moved from the .Gov to businesses (who will need to increase prices to absorb the costs - which then leads to an increase in the tax paid).
2. I can see the less intrusion, but imagine paying for a house then having to add almost 1/4 additional to the sales price.
3. How is it more transparent? Instead of being hidden in a paycheck, it's hidden in a salestax.
Believe me, I want to pay less in taxes. I just want to make sure we don't go from one boondoggle to another.
1. Most businesses in the country are already equipped to charge sales taxes, as most states have sales taxes. So, most will have to add X% to the local sales taxes and send it to fed.gov. Compare that to what we have to do to comply with income tax regulation. There is a whole industry built up around it. Collecting a sales tax is cake, by comparison.
Check this out:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/1281.htmlIn 2005, taxpayers will pay roughly $1.2 trillion in federal income taxes. But Americas tax burden is more than just the amount of tax paid. It also includes the cost of complying with federal taxes, including tax planning, paperwork and other hassles caused by tax complexity.
...
In 2005 individuals, businesses and nonprofits will spend an estimated 6 billion hours complying with the federal income tax code, with an estimated compliance cost of over $265.1 billion. This amounts to imposing a 22-cent tax compliance surcharge for every dollar the income tax system collects.
A 22% tax compliance surcharge. Maybe we won't need to have a 25% national sales tax. Maybe we'll only really need an 18% rate.
2. I hear ya. Do the math, however, & it is much more attractive:
http://fairtax.org/real_estate.html3. More transparent, because you pay it each and every time you make a purchase. You see it right there where you currently see the sales tax on your receipt. If it goes up, you see it. If some lobbyist gets an exclusion on their product/industry, you see it.