What is your view on the National Retail Tax?

A

Aimhigh2000

Active Member
Bar Codes

With just about everything we buy having a bar code, couldn't these bar codes be pre-programmed so that once scanned, the system would symply determine which tax would be applied? I am for a flat tax. Makes sense to me.
 
Ken King

Ken King

A little rusty but not crusty
PREMO Member
Aimhigh2000 said:
With just about everything we buy having a bar code, couldn't these bar codes be pre-programmed so that once scanned, the system would symply determine which tax would be applied? I am for a flat tax. Makes sense to me.
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Flat tax does nothing for those that work under the table or receive their money via other illegal means. The "consumption" tax is one that would catch all of these folk and get their fair share too.
 
HORUS

HORUS

Better than YOU.
vraiblonde said:
I wasn't aware that Bush was considering this beyond the wool-gathering stage but he's talking, I assume, about getting rid of withholding and going with a straight national sales tax on goods purchased.

This makes sense on so many levels. The rich, who buy more, will pay more in taxes. The poor, who buy less, will pay less. People who make their money through illegal means will still be contributing to our funding system because, although their income isn't taxed, they'll still be buying things.

Maybe make essentials - groceries, medicine, etc - non-taxable and put a higher rate on luxury items.

Hopefully Bush has some guru crunching the numbers right now to see if it's feasible.
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:peace: Hell Yeah!
 
HORUS

HORUS

Better than YOU.
UrbanPancake said:
I'm not giving my side. It will be attacked, and I will be told I'm stupid. :ohwell:
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True on both accounts. And lets face it... You are stupid. :loser:
 
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HORUS

HORUS

Better than YOU.
ylexot said:
Actually, one of the drawbacks I can see is that it could decrease tourism from foreign countries. Essentially, their money would not go as far as it does now in the US because the taxes would be much higher. However, I've thought of that too. Show your foreign passport, get a lower tax. I'm sure someone will scream "privacy rights", but this could also be used to track foreign people in the country. Granted, if someone is really out to do bad, they'll just use cash and pay the high tax.
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OOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo.... Awsome notion. :popcorn:

I love it! :yeahthat: :cheers:
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Aimhigh2000 said:
With just about everything we buy having a bar code, couldn't these bar codes be pre-programmed so that once scanned, the system would symply determine which tax would be applied?
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That's how it would have to be done, I would guess.
 
mAlice

mAlice

professional daydreamer
Essentials

Looking at the big stuff, how do you think this would work out? A home is an essential, but is purchasing a home essential?

If a home's an essential and you're not taxed on it, will the price increase due to the builder paying taxes when he buys supplies? Would owning a home become a luxury?

What would the impact be on the housing market?
 
mAlice

mAlice

professional daydreamer
Is owning a car essential? What impact could this have on public transportation?
 
U

UrbanPancake

Right=Wrong/Left=Right
I really don't have enough information to say that I'm either nay or yeah for the National Sales Tax. With that in mind I would rather keep my view hidden, until I gather more information in regards to the tax. I'm not sure how to feel about it at this moment in time. I would like to see some number crunching to see if this system would be able to support our government. Without the number crunching I'm left to second guess this tax plan, and I really don't want to second guess it.
 
E

ericw

New Member
ylexot said:
Ahhh, but "want to" and "will be able to" are two different things. Say that a 1-week vacation in the US will cost someone $2000. Now if you apply a 15-20% tax to it, the same vacation costs $2300-$2400. That can price some people out of the ability to come here. Not everyone, but some.

Now, that could be offset if the prices for goods drops as a result of the change in tax systems, but I just don't see that happening.
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Prices would drop because US companies would want to gain a competitive edge over foreign competition, because some (like pharmaceutical companies) have gotten negative attention for their pricing practices, and because companies that didn't lower prices could be investigated for price-fixing by the Justice Department. The independent study of Jim DeMint's 23% sales tax proposal suggested prices would fall 22% in the first year and a bit more afterward - even if that's optimistic, a 15-20% drop inthe first two years is certainly realistic.
The real advantage to our economy is that it would make America a better place to invest. No more outsourcing of American jobs to India, instead those jobs stay here, and European jobs get outsourced to America!
 
ylexot

ylexot

Super Genius
Aimhigh2000 said:
With just about everything we buy having a bar code, couldn't these bar codes be pre-programmed so that once scanned, the system would symply determine which tax would be applied? I am for a flat tax. Makes sense to me.
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A bar code is nothing more than a number presented in a format that is easily read by optical scanners. Bar codes on items in stores are unique item identifying numbers. When they are scanned, the computer uses the store's database to get the store item number, price, description, and some identifier of if the item is taxable (there may be other data items). My guess is that there is only one identifier for determining if it is taxable. So, if you had a simple fed sales tax (no extra luxury tax) that used the same criteria for taxable/non-taxable, it could probably be done fairly simply. If you added in luxury tax or had differing criteria from the state, it would require more changes. Not impossible or even difficult, but it does increase the effort. You could change the bar codes, but then you'd still have to change the machines that read the codes as well as every item on the shelf. That is definitely far more expensive.

Sorry for geeking out, but the class I was at is Software Engineering Management, so we're learning about all that kind of stuff.
 
ylexot

ylexot

Super Genius
ericw said:
Prices would drop because US companies would want to gain a competitive edge over foreign competition, because some (like pharmaceutical companies) have gotten negative attention for their pricing practices, and because companies that didn't lower prices could be investigated for price-fixing by the Justice Department.
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So, US companies don't want to gain a competative edge over foreign competition now? :confused:

Companies lower prices when they a) are financially solid enough to do so and b) there is competition. The competition is there already, so the driver would have to be a company's financial stability (they can afford the revenue intake hit to gain market share). If this tax idea reduces a company's taxes (it won't be a massive reduction), then I can see prices coming down, but I think DeMint's 22% is waaaaay optimistic.

Companies can charge whatever they want for a product. That's their prerogative and the Justice Dept can't do anything about it. Price-fixing is an issue when multiple companies conspire to raise prices of the entire market.
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
Vince said:
I always liked this idea. What were they calling it a few years back, the flat tax. A flat 2% across the board. Essentials exempt.
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Flat tax was different in that it was still an income tax, but would be the same for ALL income levels with NO exemptions.. GREAT idea, but seeing how the government is run by lawyers, and this would but 10;s of thousands of tax lawyers and CPA's out of business it had NO chance.. I thnk they figured a flat tax rate at less then 10%, and the savings to the government (more stremalined IRS, very few tax laws, less court time) was in the billions of dollars.
I don't like the idea of a national sales tax ONLY for the reason, whenever a tax is introduced it will only be increased.. and if you think Demoncrats like to spend now, let them at a national sales tax rate.
 
kom526

kom526

They call me ... Sarcasmo
:offtopic: But would the American public go for this?
Have a percentage of your tax refund, ( if you get one) retained by the gov't to pay down the deficit, fix SS, or something along those lines, with these provios:
Percentage is based on amunt of your return and your total income.

Have this program run for a period of 4 years only and only applicable every 12 to 20 years until no longer needed.

Congressional oversight for placement of money.

No one household would have more than $500.00 withheld.

Does this sound too much like asset redistribution? This is just an idea I had rattling around. (too much time on my hands at work) Anybody have anything to add? Is this feasible, or has the many years work place toxins finally taken their toll?

I am just asking for opinions here I am not making public policy so please keep the flames to a minimum. Thank you.
 
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