The Fairtax has much going for it, but the supporters are fooling themselves if they think it could be implemented without exceptions. Religious organizations would have to be exempt to avoid state entanglement with religion. Primary housing would have to be exempt simply because nobody but the wealthy could afford to pay a 30% surtax up front on a house. Also, it seems unlikely that medical expenses would be taxed. This, of course, would open the door to other exemptions.
The prebate is a stroke of genius. It should not have many problems, because the rules a so simple.
To clarify your objections:
Religious organizations aren’t “consumers” so they wouldn’t pay the FairTax any more than any other business would. The pretax costs for houses would go down (not by a full 23%, but by some amount) so you wouldn’t be increasing the overall price 30%; furthermore, the tax would only apply to new housing. Existing housing would go up in value as a result of the tax premium on new housing (thus benefitting current homeowners), but again, not by the full amount of the FairTax, so you end up with slightly higher home prices, which can be paid with higher incomes. And medical expenses are taxed now, in the sense that they have embedded taxes built into them and they are paid (for the most part) with post-income and payroll tax dollars.
As you already understand, any exemptions open the door to the same type of funny business and class warfare the politicians play today with all our current taxes. That’s why the only politicians who get my support (and the support of the other FairTaxers, presumably) are those who support the FairTax as written, without exemptions.
If the prebate was implemented as a debit card that reduced the tax amounts up to the poverty level as the purchases were made.
No, that's untrue.
First, the NRST (National Retail Sales Tax under the FairTax legislation) can be financed as part of the mortgage. The increase in monthly payments is more than offset by the elimination of income taxes from a homebuyer's paycheck.
Second, the NRST is applied only to new homes and those new homes will be built with materials that cost less because the manufacturers will no longer need to pass on federal taxes into the cost structure. So new homes will cost less but the price will be brought back up by adding the NRST.
The key point to keep in mind is the FairTax is a replacement tax, not a tax on a tax. It replaces all the federal taxes that are embedded in pricing now. The embedded taxes are hidden. But they will be eliminated and then replaced by the visible FairTax.