[Uncle Vlad]

Actually the statement that the drug dealers would pay is correct. They would, of course, pay on sales of legal retail items, not hard street drugs. You can say the same thing about the subterranean economy: illegal aliens, black market, etc. I've heard estimates as high as $1.5 Trillion a year in subterranean economy that goes untaxed.

[jimthewiz]

Thank you... That was exactly my point.

[WileyC]

$1.5 Trillion a year in subterranean economy that goes untaxed.

%1.5 Trillion times a 23% tax is.... a LOT of money! =)

$345 billion, to be exact. Of course, one could argue a lot of that economy is not taxable retail, but there's still a lot of people being paid under the table even if it's not that much. =)