[Always Right]

Well, simplify it for me. Under the NRST, if I buy an item that is listed at $10, how much cash do I give the sales person?

If you bought an item that costs $10, you would have to give the cashier $13. How they come up with 23%, is that the $3 tax is 23% of the final cost of $13. But it is really a 30% sales tax if you wish to discuss things honestly. I build new homes, and I can say with 100% certainty, if they added 30% sales tax on to the cost of new homes, I would be out of business.

[wingster]

Indeed. I dare say you'd be out of business too. LOL

[Principled]

...if they added 30% sales tax on to the cost of new homes, I would be out of business.

Right. It would be stupid to think this would go anywhere if prices were to rise.

But prices won't rise under the nrst. Prices remain stable.

How stupid would it be to try to put an additional tax on us? The nrst is not an additional tax, it's a replacement tax.

Prices will remain stable. The amount of tax currently being paid is the same amount that will be paid under the nrst. The beg difference is that with the nrst, you can see what portion of prices is actually federal tax. These days, that amount is hidden.

[Remember_Salamis]

They're actually doing the most honest thing. Only somebody trying to trick somebody would compare apples and oranges. The Tax-inclusive rate is used because that it is a replacement for the income tax, and income taxes are cited tax-inclusive terms. We could go the other way and compare both in tax-exclusive terms. A 25% income tax is really 33.33% tax-exclusive ($100 - $25 = $75; $25/$75 = 33.33%).
As long as we compare apples and apples we're good to go. If we didn't do that, it would be like there being no price difference between buying some thing in dollars and Euros, only the same price (like 10 dollars or 10 euros) is charged even though the Euro is worth 15% more than the dollar.

[lewislynn]

I build new homes, and I can say with 100% certainty, if they added 30% sales tax on to the cost of new homes, I would be out of business.

Wait a minute. You forgot that the exact science of competition would force you to lower your home prices 30% because of the repeal of your federal taxes...

I guess you didn't know, as they do, that you're paying 30% federal tax on the gross sale of your homes. < /sarcasm >

And if you're a contractor or any other profession perfoming a service you too can lower your prices 30%...never mind the fact that you'll eventually have to pay tax out of your reduced income when you choose to spend it...

< /sarcasm >

[hopespringseternal]

I build new homes, and I can say with 100% certainty, if they added 30% sales tax on to the cost of new homes, I would be out of business.

It isn't just the price, it is the loan to value ratio. That 30% can't be financed since few houses can be profitably built for 23% less than market value.

Yeah, it would kill the housing market deader than a doornail.

[Ditto]

If you bought an item that costs $10, you would have to give the cashier $13.

How do you figure? If the rate were 23%, your bill would be $12.30. If it were 17%, your bill would be $11.70. How do you get $13?

As to the price of homes rising by a rate equal to the sales tax rate, if income tax and compliance costs on you and your suppliers were eliminated, wouldn't the costs of building a house for you and your competitors also decrease? Wouldn't the market force you to drop the retail price accordingly?

Have you ever tried to figure out how much income tax and compliance costs are hidden in the price of dry wall, plywood and concrete?

[RockyMtnMan]

Have you ever calculated how much you pay in tax to actually build the house? How much of a reduction in price could you get from your sub-contractors if they didn't have to pay payroll taxes (7%). Now consider the lumber, fixtures, drywall, electrical, etc that you buy, the company that produces these items will no longer have to pay a corporate tax on their earnings and therefore can lower the cost to you.

Taxes are embedded in everything and as a result we pay them whether we know it or not. The NRST is revenue neutral and has been shown to be such through detailed analysis.