Posted on 01/13/2008 5:16:11 AM PST by Man50D
In a piece published on January 9th for Townhall, economics writer Jerry Bowyer posed some common questions about the FairTax. The FairTax would replace personal income taxes, payroll taxes, capital gains taxes, corporate income taxes, and the death tax with a national retail sales tax. The FairTax has become a prominent subject for discussion as Mike Huckabee, its leading advocate among the presidential candidates, has risen to the top of the national polls.
In politics, as in life, “context” (which could also be called, “basic point of view” or “the framing of the issue”) trumps “content” (in this case, the specific factual questions asked). However, let me first address the “content” of Mr. Bowyer’s questions.
Q. Why do you think that a sales tax is less prone to corruption and complexity than an income tax?
A. There are three major reasons that the FairTax would be less problematic than an income tax:
1. It applies to actual transactions where money changes hands, rather than “income”, which is a concept so abstract as to be almost ethereal. Most of the 60,000-page U.S. tax code deals with the definition of “income”. 2. There would be only about 20 million entities that would need to file FairTax returns, compared with 140 million who must file income tax returns now. 3. At the proposed 23% (inclusive) rate, the FairTax rate is much lower than the current 35% top tax rates on personal and corporate income. The lower the rate, the less incentive for avoidance, evasion, and special pleading.
Q. Are sales taxes, where they are currently in operation, simple and free from special interest lobbying?
A. Nothing in the manifested universe is perfect, but sales taxes are, in practice, simpler and less prone to special interest lobbying than income taxes. Right now, the huge Washington lobbying industry on K Street gets half of its revenue from lobbying the income tax code.
Q. Does it apply to non-profits?
A. The FairTax applies to retail sales of new goods and services. If a non-profit sells new goods and services, it will collect the FairTax on them. However, in general, charity involves giving things away, not selling them. Also, the FairTax would eliminate the payroll taxes that non-profits pay under current law.
Q. Are used goods, non-taxable?
A. Yes—the FairTax applies only to sales of new goods and services. However, the nation as a whole obviously cannot replace newly-produced goods with used goods. If I sell you my car, I don’t have it anymore. All of the new parts and labor that would go into “rehabilitation” and “refurbishment” of used items would be subject to the FairTax. This having been said, the FairTax would shift U.S. GDP from current consumption toward investment and exports. Most economists would applaud such a move.
Q. What about the transition period?
A. People respond to incentives, and there would be an incentive to delay income and accelerate spending ahead of the FairTax effective date. This could well result in a short-term increase in debt. However, debt will be easier to repay under the FairTax because people will have more take-home pay. This aside, America has been around for 232 years. There are many things that could be done to ease the transition, and it makes no sense to avoid a change with huge long-term benefits because of one-year transition effects.
Q. Isn’t it true that the rate is not really 23% but 30% at least, because it’s tax-inclusive?
A. Yes and no. Both the FairTax and the income tax can be stated as either an “inclusive” or an “exclusive” rate. For an “apples to apples” comparison with the rates of our existing tax system, the 23% “inclusive” FairTax rate is the correct number to use.
Q. How do we determine the interest portion of mortgage payment?
A. Interest above the rate on 10-year Treasury bonds is subject to the FairTax. This will prevent suppliers from discounting prices and making it up with high interest rates on financing. The 10-year Treasury rate is a market-determined interest rate that is not targeted by the Federal Reserve.
Having addressed the “content” of Mr. Bowyer’s questions, I would like to turn to the more fundamental issue of “context”.
A “contextual” question that shapes a person’s entire experience of life is, “Is the glass of life half empty, or is the glass of life half full?” Think about the people you know and you will see that this is true.
The analogous political question is, “Is the glass of America half empty, or is the glass of America half full?” The FairTax is an expansive, optimistic, “half full” concept. It has a natural appeal to people for whom the glass of life, and the glass of America, is half full. The FairTax speaks to “possibility” rather than “fear”.
I do not know Mr. Bowyer personally, so all I can say is that his questions about the FairTax struck me as coming from a “half empty” point of view. This was not surprising to me. Most “elite opinion”, including virtually the entire Mainstream Media, has embraced the “the glass of America is half empty” point of view and has dedicated itself to proving this position right.
The FairTax is about America’s future. When it comes to matters pertaining to the future, facts and logic cannot bridge the gulf between hope and fear, the chasm between “half empty” and “half full”. All we can do is to pose the question to the American people and let them decide.
When did we have the Income Tax implemented?
My guess is that the FairTax will precipitate SS reform, but the reform will be to expand the system. Now, SS contributions are made by the employer and the employee, with the FairTax, SS revenues are derived from the sales tax, in other words, every consumer pays directly for SS, but not everyone qualifies for benefits.
There will be a move to expand benefits to all, since all pay directly.
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hehe you’re really trying to avoid stating the 23% rate in any form, aren’t you?
people crack me up :p
Are you sure about this?
State sales taxes, fine, we agree. But I though businesses were exempt from the Fair Tax if the item was to be used for business.
True. But, it is the taxpayer, not the employeer, who would reap the real benefits of (1) not having to file an immense amount of detailed information each year, (2) of not having to face IRS audits, and (3) of not having to carry the burden of proof and maintain related records.
I don’t think so. “Sales and use tax”, as they call it in FL, doesn’t work that way.
Now, use of the item DOES exempt one from paying income tax on it.
When did we have sales taxes implemented?
While the "Fair" tax would be applied to even MORE retail items. It would be WORSE than the earlier version, far MORE oppressive and subject to even GREATER evasion.
FairTax supporters seem to think that if its not in the bill, it can't happen.
The history of the income tax in America is an interesting read. Those control freak bastards tried for decades, but the popularity of Marxism in the late 1800s lent a lot of impetus to the statists, not to mention the big government tendencies of Wilson.
Once again, Mojave is only telling part of the truth. Marx had a lot to do with the taxation of income, at least in popularizing it.
The "Fair" tax is designed to penalize people who spent their lives saving for retirement.
Because the consumer can get a better deal somewhere else, plain and simple.
Please quote my entire statement, liar.
The business owners I have talked to are smart enough to understand the difference between inclusive and exclusive, they understand differences caused by different denominators.
Inclusively 23 out of 100 is 23%.
Exclusively 23 out of (100-23) is 29.87%.
The same can be said for the employee’s portion of Social Security/Medicare payroll tax.
Inclusively 7.65 out of 100 is 7.65%.
Exclusively 7.65 out of (100-7.65) is 8.28%.
Do you trust the Social Security Administration when they say the rate they tax employees is 7.65%?
As for you thinking nearly all taxpayers are so dumb as to not be able to see the difference, you have a low opinion of Americans. I assure you they can see the difference and they can see persons such as yourself falsely accusing the fine people that have crafted the FairTax legislation of being less than sincere.
Any activity you tax, you discourage. This is basic.
The more I read about the “fair tax”, the more I’m starting to see that. When I have questioned it, I got insults back. They seem to be so obsessed with the concept they don’t want to even try to understand the person questioning it. I usually have found that the worse ideas in life are pushed by arrogance.
Let’s hear you give some examples.
With 52 trillion dollars in government liabilities, its going to take more than a balanced budget.
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