Compared to the current tax system that we have grown up with, the Fair Tax is revolutionary.
For the last 96 years, lawmakers in Washington have been fixing, adjusting, and targeting the tax laws which are now over 65,000 pages long, and so complicated that the Treasury Secretary himself does not know how to comply with them. And he is in charge of them. The current tax code is too big, too punitive, too complicated, and counter-productive to business, savings, and investment for individual taxpayers as well as business.
For argument’s sake, imagine for a moment, that for the last 96 years we have been operating under the Fair Tax. Taxing consumption instead of income, where people have been getting all of their earned pay in their paychecks every week. And the national averages of income, investment, jobs, and employment levels are what they are.
Then imagine that there is a move in Washington to totally re-vamp and revise the tax code. Proponents of the new plan want to repeal the 131 page tax bill and replace it with a 65,000 page tax bill. Under this new plan, the government can take from 10% to 35% of your hard-earned pay, beginning with your first dollar earned. And if you own a business, the government can take 35% of your business’s income as well. To pay for Social Security, Medicare and other government programs, the government will take 15% of your pay from you and your employer. And when your company is successful to the extent that they realize some capital gains, the government can take 35% of that. Also under this new tax plan, the government will take 45% of your estate upon your death.
Under this new plan, the size of the contributing tax base becomes smaller, increasing the burden on the remaining productive citizens.
Oh by the way, you’ll probably pay a lot of money to have some one figure out what will most likely be the incorrect amount of taxes you owe and you’ll pay for corporate tax compliance by an increase in the costs of goods and services.
OK. Now. Which plan looks best to you? The current Fair Tax plan, or the New Plan?
I’ve been interested in taxations for longer then I care to acknowledge, both on the personal side (all my working life-time!!) and from a legal point of view since satisfying the bar and following up on tax law. I’ve provided a lot of advice and righted a lot of wrongs, and I must say that what you’ve put up makes complete sense. Please persist in the good work – the more individuals know the better they’ll be equipped to cope with the tax man, and that’s what it’s all about.