[untenured]

A tax on gross eliminates the “bribe me and I’ll cut you a tax break” sword that hangs over businesses. The side benefit is that businesses will take a harder look at where their money goes - with no more unproductive tax write-offs, the money will be directed to areas that create wealth and jobs.

Why can't a sales tax be corrupted just as easily as the income tax was, crammed with special exemptions, different rates for the output of well-connected and powerless industries, etc.? It seems to me the two tax systems just as easily lend themselves to arbitrariness, and stacking a new sales tax on the income tax as in the 999 approach may actually expand the opportunity to game the system. Is there something about the plan I am missing?

[Typical_Whitey]

The tax is FLAT.... There is no more IRS. There is no gaming the system. You tell me how can you game the system when the government collects 9 percent income tax, 9 pecent corporate tax and 9 percent VAT on purchased items?

I don’t see how you get a loophole in there.