Tuesday, October 04, 2005
What’s Fair About Tax?
Leave it to Neal Boortz (in-your-face radio talk show host) and Congressman John Linder of Georgia to find a way to make tax fair. Actually, they just wrote a book (The FairTax Book) about a plan developed by a bunch of really smart guys on how to scrap our current tax system (yes, that includes getting rid of the IRS) and instituting a system at once simple and yet adequate to finance our bloated government. Sounds good, but…
Can it get passed? And, if passed, can we keep it from getting as out of control as our current system? I like to think the answer is a resounding “YES!” Of course, that “yes” depends on all of us.
You’re probably thinking, “Hey, we have a huge Federal deficit, a huge cleanup effort in the Gulf Coast, pork projects bulging out of the Transportation Bill and the Energy Bill. How can we even think of switching to the FairTax now?”
Wrong question.
The right question is: “How can we get the FairTax bill (H.R. 25) passed as quickly as possible?”
Here are a few things you can do (not necessarily in this order):
- Buy the book (this will help keep the book high on the NY Times Bestseller List and keep it in the eye of our “public servants” in D.C.).
- Read the book so you’ll be informed on why passage of the FairTax bill (H.R. 25) is vital to our economy.
- Write to your Congressmen/women in support of the FairTax bill (H.R. 25).
- Buy several copies of the book to give to family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, strangers at the mall, etc.
- Talk to your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, strangers at the mall, etc., about the benefits of the FairTax and how vital its passage is to our economy.
- Visit The FairTax Website for more information and to volunteer.
- Write again to your Congressmen/women again to make sure they don’t forget.
- Reread The FairTax Book
Phew! That should keep you busy for awhile. But it will be effort that will pay off BIG TIME!
Oh, by the way, if you’re worried about what all those IRS employees would do for jobs if the agency were disbanded, I can assure you they’ll be fine. There are plenty of jobskill retraining programs out there, funded with our tax dollars.
Ready – Set – Go!
Copyright © 2005 A.C. Cargill
Comments:
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Couldn't agree more. The FairTax is our nuclear bomb in the economic war around the world. We can only win if we use it.
# posted by 
: 11:56 AM
: 11:56 AM
There is nothing fair about the so-
called "Fair Tax". In fact, it is the most regressive tax one could imagine and is economically desasterous to the low and middle class workers. Yet, it is very beneficial to those who have income other than wages. A National Retailers Federation study reveals that the Fair Tax rate would need to be greater than 55% to equal the present tax take by the federal treasury.
called "Fair Tax". In fact, it is the most regressive tax one could imagine and is economically desasterous to the low and middle class workers. Yet, it is very beneficial to those who have income other than wages. A National Retailers Federation study reveals that the Fair Tax rate would need to be greater than 55% to equal the present tax take by the federal treasury.
# posted by : 3:25 PM
: 3:25 PM 
Im not so sure your right. I want answers to these questions:
1) In the section where they ask myth or truth the author asks if the president and congress pay social security taxes. He states they do just like "every other American Citizen." The president and congress do pay social security taxes but not "every other American Citizen" does. You can opt out of social security for religious reasons. This is most popular among priests. Many priests do this as their religion states they must be good Stewards of Gods Money. They feel that handing their money over to a government who cannot control their own budget is not good stewardship of Gods money and therefore are able to opt out of the system. This inconsistency has no real bearing on the Fairtax itself but if I can catch something like this it makes me wonder what else in the book is not true.
2) In the chapter about abolishing the IRS, the author gives stories about the IRS abuse of power such as in the story about the missing Dime on a tax return payment of a major corporation. They state over and over again that with the Fairtax these types of issues would not happen. That is plain
misleading! Even if the Fairtax were passed I highly doubt the IRS would be abolished and even if they were, some other government organization would need to take their place. The government is not just going to trust that all companies are fairly and accurately paying 100% of the Fairtax payments they
collected from their customers. Businesses would still need to file some sort of Federal Sales Tax Return and hense there would likely still be audits whether by the IRS or a newly mandated FairTax agency!
3) It is stated that the Fairtax would be an inclusionary tax. In other words the taxes would not be added at the cash register. They would be forced by law to be included in the final price of the goods. It is stated over and over again that with the Fairtax you will know exactly what you are paying in taxes rather then only knowing what you are taking home after withholding. Mandating an inclusionary tax is just as sneaky a tactic to disguising government imposed taxes as withholding is. In addition it would give the government an easier time at raising the percentage of the FairTax (if it were instituted) because people wouldnt notice it as much as if there were a seperate line on your reciept (as is done with state sales tax) saying Fairtax 23%. Making this an inclusionary tax is just trading one evil (withholding) with another (an embedded tax). You are gaining no ground in creating a progressive tax system.
4) A major and perhaps the number 1 selling point to the FairTax plan is that you would take home 100% of your paycheck. If you were making $100,000 and taking $70,000 after taxes you would now get a virtual raise and be taking home $100,000 as stated by the author. This does make sense to me and is also my number 1 selling point if I were to support the FairTax legislature. The only problem is that you may not be taking home that $100,000, 100% paycheck after all. In Money Magazine's "Just how fair is the 'FairTax'?" article published 9/7/2005, Pat Regnier states
"What The FairTax Book fails to mention is that prices can only fall this sharply if companies cut wages. Say your salary is $100,000 a year today, but you take home $80,000 after taxes. Your company is still paying that extra $20,000. In a FairTax world, it will save that money, and be able to lower its prices accordingly, only if it can reduce your salary to $80,000. In other words, your take-home pay is the same as before. Sure, you'd get to "keep 100 percent of your paycheck," as Boortz and Linder repeatedly write, but it would be a smaller paycheck. That's kind of a big thing to leave out. I pressed the point with Boortz and Linder. Boortz denies that the book intentionally overpromises. The introduction, he notes, emphasizes that "this book isn't about saving a penny in taxes." But he concedes that the book is confusing about this, and vows to correct it in later printings. Fair enough. Meanwhile, these guys want to replace the entire tax code, they've ignited a populist movement to get it done, and tens of thousands of copies of the uncorrected book make the FairTax sound like magic."
So according to this Money Magazine article the Authors agreed that wages would need to be cut to accomplish all that is stated in the book. If it is true that wages would need to be cut it puts the nail in the coffin in my support of the FairTax. I went as far as to write an email to the Authors at their website FairTax.org asking for an explanation about inconsistencies between their statements in the book and their statements to Money Magazine but have yet to recieve a response.
Brandon
STHbodyjewelry.com
Post a Comment
1) In the section where they ask myth or truth the author asks if the president and congress pay social security taxes. He states they do just like "every other American Citizen." The president and congress do pay social security taxes but not "every other American Citizen" does. You can opt out of social security for religious reasons. This is most popular among priests. Many priests do this as their religion states they must be good Stewards of Gods Money. They feel that handing their money over to a government who cannot control their own budget is not good stewardship of Gods money and therefore are able to opt out of the system. This inconsistency has no real bearing on the Fairtax itself but if I can catch something like this it makes me wonder what else in the book is not true.
2) In the chapter about abolishing the IRS, the author gives stories about the IRS abuse of power such as in the story about the missing Dime on a tax return payment of a major corporation. They state over and over again that with the Fairtax these types of issues would not happen. That is plain
misleading! Even if the Fairtax were passed I highly doubt the IRS would be abolished and even if they were, some other government organization would need to take their place. The government is not just going to trust that all companies are fairly and accurately paying 100% of the Fairtax payments they
collected from their customers. Businesses would still need to file some sort of Federal Sales Tax Return and hense there would likely still be audits whether by the IRS or a newly mandated FairTax agency!
3) It is stated that the Fairtax would be an inclusionary tax. In other words the taxes would not be added at the cash register. They would be forced by law to be included in the final price of the goods. It is stated over and over again that with the Fairtax you will know exactly what you are paying in taxes rather then only knowing what you are taking home after withholding. Mandating an inclusionary tax is just as sneaky a tactic to disguising government imposed taxes as withholding is. In addition it would give the government an easier time at raising the percentage of the FairTax (if it were instituted) because people wouldnt notice it as much as if there were a seperate line on your reciept (as is done with state sales tax) saying Fairtax 23%. Making this an inclusionary tax is just trading one evil (withholding) with another (an embedded tax). You are gaining no ground in creating a progressive tax system.
4) A major and perhaps the number 1 selling point to the FairTax plan is that you would take home 100% of your paycheck. If you were making $100,000 and taking $70,000 after taxes you would now get a virtual raise and be taking home $100,000 as stated by the author. This does make sense to me and is also my number 1 selling point if I were to support the FairTax legislature. The only problem is that you may not be taking home that $100,000, 100% paycheck after all. In Money Magazine's "Just how fair is the 'FairTax'?" article published 9/7/2005, Pat Regnier states
"What The FairTax Book fails to mention is that prices can only fall this sharply if companies cut wages. Say your salary is $100,000 a year today, but you take home $80,000 after taxes. Your company is still paying that extra $20,000. In a FairTax world, it will save that money, and be able to lower its prices accordingly, only if it can reduce your salary to $80,000. In other words, your take-home pay is the same as before. Sure, you'd get to "keep 100 percent of your paycheck," as Boortz and Linder repeatedly write, but it would be a smaller paycheck. That's kind of a big thing to leave out. I pressed the point with Boortz and Linder. Boortz denies that the book intentionally overpromises. The introduction, he notes, emphasizes that "this book isn't about saving a penny in taxes." But he concedes that the book is confusing about this, and vows to correct it in later printings. Fair enough. Meanwhile, these guys want to replace the entire tax code, they've ignited a populist movement to get it done, and tens of thousands of copies of the uncorrected book make the FairTax sound like magic."
So according to this Money Magazine article the Authors agreed that wages would need to be cut to accomplish all that is stated in the book. If it is true that wages would need to be cut it puts the nail in the coffin in my support of the FairTax. I went as far as to write an email to the Authors at their website FairTax.org asking for an explanation about inconsistencies between their statements in the book and their statements to Money Magazine but have yet to recieve a response.
Brandon
STHbodyjewelry.com
# posted by : 7:09 AM
: 7:09 AM << Home
