I was for it, but I keep hearing about a lot of issues. Like...
1. While the tax rate would be 23%, apparently there would actually be a 30% tax depending on how it is calculated.
2. The supporters of the tax say we'll be paying less for goods because there's an imbedded cost of manufacturers and suppliers paying taxes, and once the taxes are removed the price of goods and services will drop. But what's going to ensure that happens? There's nothing that requires retailers to lower their prices, so why should they?
3. With a 23-30% sales tax, isn't there going to be a demand for a vast black market of off-the-book sales, just as we now have for off-the-books labor?
4. The fair taxers say we'll get rid of the IRS, but we're still going to need a huge organization to track and collect the new taxes won't we?
5. The current income tax was established by an ammendment to the Constitution, and would require another ammendment to end it. Would we be able to get that? If we don't we'll have a consumption tax and an income tax.
1: It is 23%. It just depends on whether you do the calculation as INCLUSIVE or EXCLUSIVE. It works out exactly the same. This is one of the most erroneous arguements there is.
2: It's the power of competition. Never underestimate it. There is a perfect example with the airlines several years ago. There was a tax dropped off for them and at first, they were all trying to keep their prices the same to beef up the bottom line. Then one used the leeway to gain a competitive edge, and in no time, they were ALL back down to the same margin as they were before.
3: Sure there will be people trying to cheat... just as they are now... but it will take TWO people to cheat. The consumer AND the business. Most retailers are NOT going to risk their company to save you a buck.
4: They will simply incorporate a system that will work much the same way state tax is collected at the point of sale right now. The government will reimburse the retailer a small percentage for their "handling" or "passing it along to the Treasury" charge. They won't need a huge organization.
5: If you were to read the bill.... or the book... you would find out that one of the things that will have to happen before the Fairtax can be enacted is the repeal of the 16th amendment.
I highly recommend getting and reading the Fairtax book. They are also coming out with a new book "Answering the critics" Feb 15th. The hardest part about getting this passed is going to be power hungry politicians and the average person that is completely content with the current crushing 66,000 pages of confusing tax code we have now. If the people get behind it, the politicians will HAVE to listen. Look what happened with the McCain-Kennedy Amnesty debacle a few months back. It WOULD HAVE passed if not for the average person getting on the horn and saying enough is enough! And to the naysayers that say "it won't happen"... I'm sure people said that about flying like a bird in a machine, or going to the moon, etc, etc.
Please read the bill/book