CAVUTO REPORTS THAT BUSH CONSIDERING SCRAPPING THE IRS CODE!!!

Fox News Channel | November 6, 2002 | n/a

[coloradan]

It won't keep sellers from being tracked by the government.

You're absolutely right, but watching them only is better than watching everyone.

[LibKill]

A flat tax would work.

The flatter the better.

(If you didn't get the humor; the lower the rate the better.)

[PhilipFreneau]

It will never get done otherwise. The rebates I am talking about will apply to every man, woman, and child equally. The way I look at it if you eliminate by rebate a tax on the necessities of life, the argument can be made that the more you spend, the more tax one pays. One pays taxes according to the benefits he reaps from the society. There are only three things one can do with money--invest it, save it, or spend it. The first two create jobs and/or make money available for others to create jobs. The last creates jobs. Who can argue with that. Cutting off contributions to charity will be strongly opposed too. By letting people assign their rebates, this opposition can be overcome.

Too complicated, and too prone to abuse. Any exemption (and I do mean ANY exemption) will open to door to abuse by future government. From the beginning there must be a flat sales tax rate, and it must apply to all retail sales. No exceptions, and no complications. The only changes allowed in the system must be 1) an occasional modification (up or down) in the rate, and 2) an occasional modification in the number of government personnel managing the system (via hiring or laying-off). The devil is in the details, so, to be safe, don't have any details.

[carenot]

I'm in favor of a flatter income tax, but not if Mr Rich Guy That Can Pay a Lawyer gets off w/o paying a dime.

Mister rich guy buys a lot morestuff than I do. He would have to pay. But he wouldn't need a lawyer.

What could we do with all the Tax lawyers?

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

No Way. You would have to own 67 Senate seats and 280 House seats to pull this off. And even then it would be hard as bricks to pull off. No way legislators abdicate the power the tax code gives them. I do not care what kind of mandate they think they have.

If this is the centerpiece of a 2004 Contract with America plan, we will have 60% of both houses. Bold and brilliant if you ask me.

[hoosierham]

I would like to see MANY of the Federal alphabet agencies eliminated, and their functions returned to the States.

Why should people in Ohio be taxed to improve the roads in Arkansas ?

An end to the agemcies that furnish all those federal grants that must be spent as the federal bureaucrats dictate.

I am willing, nay eager, to state that one-half of what Congress and the agencies do they should not, and that one-half of the money they spend is wasted !

[Paulus Invictus]

And it doesn't hold for the RATS that hold political meetings in black churches.

[IncredibleHulk]

since SCOTUS refuses to hear any arguments about the improper ratification of the 16th Amendment,

My President doesn't have to get the 16th Amendment repealed by another amendment. All he has to do is get the SCOTUS to declare it improperly ratified and null and void. That would force Congress to come up with a new taxation plan since there would be no IRS and no income tax. Dubya and the Valiant Warriors could then proceed to create whatever they want as the new tax system without regard to anything the losers may try to say about changing the system.

[Principled]

A flat tax is better, preferably if we can keep the 401(k) and mortgage interest deductions to go with the personal exemptions.

I disagree. A flat tax keeps payroll taxes. A flat tax keeps withholding. A flat tax keeps the IRS. A flat tax doesn't stay flat (read history). A flat tax is a VAT. A flat tax means the feds still have a need and the right to know how much you make and how it's made. And a flat tax means you still are at the mercy of the arbitrary, capricious income tax code.

BTW, ALL income is invested tax free under the nrst - not just 401k money. Further, all home mortgage interest will still be paid with untaxed dollars. And, there is no need for personal exemptions under a sales tax - all earnings are always 100% exempt.

[Taxman]

Been on my wish list since 1991!

And, click here or here to find out how you can help us do just that!

[IncredibleHulk]

what is going to prevent the dems from raising the tax on items a little here and there

The tax rate is identical on EVERYTHING in the nation so they can't raise it on anything without raising it on everything.

[Taxman]

YESSSSSS!

[Taxman]

Our day is coming. Thanx for the ping.

[rwfromkansas]

Exactly.....the first year will be a bit rocky starting out, but after that, projections are that thing will quickly improve due to a NRST. If we start now, we won't have to wait!

[Tree of Liberty]

Why should people in Ohio be taxed to improve the roads in Arkansas ?

As far as highways go, I'm told one of the main goals of the revamped interstate system started under Eisenhower was to allow easier military mobility across the country in case of invasion.

[undeniable logic]

A flat income tax is a good idea, except for the fact that as soon as the democrats win the executive and legislative branches it is easy to make the flat tax progressive all over again. The flat income tax is a temporary solution. We need to switch to a NRST and here is why.

First, we abolish the IRS and all information relating to people's income. Once this is done, it will be difficult to reimplement because of the cost to start it up all over again. Put the switching cost to our advantage.

Second, almost all businesses are already having to pay a sales tax, although it is to their respective states. It should be relatively easy to ramp up a national sales tax system.

Third, compliance costs will be much smaller. Instead of having to collect from 200 million taxpayers, you collect from however many businesses there are. Also, we the taxpayers will save time and money in completing tax returns.

Fourth, no individual fears of being audited.

Fifth, there is no doubt that there is a ton of unreported income, sitting idle for fear of getting caught with tax evasion. This money is not buying products or being invested.

Sixth, no more class warfare - you cannot implement a progressive system here. And if you try to increase taxes on a higher class of item to penalize the "rich," workers will lose jobs because of decreased demand. Remember what happened with the yachts?

I think wise states would abolish their income taxes and replace them with sales taxes as well.

Now I can add a little bit of my personal dream. I would like the sales tax to be paid separate by law. For instance, if you go buy groceries for $100, the cashier would first collect $100 for the groceries and in an entirely separate transaction collect the sales tax. This way, everyone would be completely aware of how much they are paying in tax. In the VAT system, the taxes are included and for the most part hidden. When you buy something, the total you pay is the sticker - it becomes easy to forget that you are paying any taxes at all.

Undeniable Logic

[eno_]

Unless you are convinced by the people who say it was never ratified, the income tax DOES have its very own constitutional amendment. Repealing that would allay the fears of those who think we would end up with NRST+income tax.

[Principled]

Why be concerned about the likelihood of smuggling and black-marketeering.

This already occurs...to the tune of Billions of dollars in lost tax revenue. It's nothing new that people cheat on taxes.

The reasons people cheat:
the tax is unfair
the tax is too difficult to understand
the tax is easy to avoid with minor consequences.

THe nrst:
is perceived as fair
is easy to understand
is difficult to avoid and consequences are harsh.
To avoid the nrst, it requires collusion (two individuals acting together). To avoid the income tax, one need only overstate expenses or understate income- quite easy.

Further, the liklihood of being caught overstating expenses or understating income is very low, and the consequences are low - you pay up and pay a fine.

Under the nrst, if you're caught, you lose your business. How many business owners will risk thier livelihood to save a customer some money on taxes?

BTW you should know that 80% of all retail $ change hands in 20% of retail establishments.

That being said, cheaters will always cheat. But by eliminating the major reasons for cheating, the problem is minimized....which makes the nrst better than the income tax from a compliance standpoint.

imho

[carenot]

If a national retail sales tax (NRST) goes into effect, I can confidently predict that very quickly a black market will develop for most high-value/low-bulk goods. What would be some examples? Here's a few I could think of: jewelry; watches; most electronic goods; software; rare coins & stamps; most smaller art works and antiques; some high-end silver, china, or crystal tableware; some high-end garments and accessories, especially if made of leather or fur; some musical instruments. It is interesting that many of the things on this list, except for the modern technology electronic goods, are the same ones that were subject to the old WWI-era "Luxury Tax."

I think the coins and stamps are not new, so there would be no tax on them. Antiques are old, no tax on 'em.

[Principled]

This will affect new home sales, but I'm not sure how much. I'm sure an analysis of this has been done.

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