April 15 - Just Another Day?
Hopefully, soon it will be. I am a proponent of the Fair Tax, which would eliminate at the very least, the seven hours I put into completing my forms this year.
The Fair Tax is not perfect. It does nothing to question the amount of federal spending, or the priorities of that spending, nor whether the object of the spending is even proper in the first place.
However, here's what the Fair Tax does do, which makes it worthy of support:
* It eliminates the IRS
* It ceases the punishment on earning
* It ceases the punishment on saving and investment
* It abolishes the 16th Amendment, which authorized the personal income tax
* It makes it unnecessary for individuals to fill out cumbersome forms, or hire accountants to do it for them, making compliance easier and less costly
* It eliminates the Alternative Minimum Tax, which was designed to snare millionaires, but now bilkes upper middle class people * It eliminates corporate taxes, which would make the USA a haven for businesses from around the world and end the off-shoring American companies engage in
* It eliminates hidden taxes- the ones corporations pass along embedded in their prices, which most Americans scarcely know are there
* It collects dollars that are currently not collected from people who operate in the underground economy
Get all this done, and our economy will soar immediately. And, because the tax is a consumption tax with a visible 23% price tag, Americans will finally see how much they are paying, and will begin to question the amount of taxation and federal spending, the priorities, and whether the objects of the spending are within the proper role of government in the first place. Get this done, and the average American will get eight hours of his life back, will be encouraged to save and to invest, and take on more work. It just disgusts me that the tax code discourages people from doing these things for fear the gains would kick them into a higher tax bracket.
Go to the Fair Tax website for more details. Also, Neal Boortz' book on the Fair Tax is finally hitting library shelves and getting into paperback, so you can read up on it there.
Update: C-Span is airing Neal Boortz in a debate with Yale Law Professor Michael Graetz right now (Saturday evening, 7pm)! C-Span will air this item again Sunday early morning at 2:30am, and then again at 10:30am, all times EDST. Set up the Tivo!
2 comments:
I think Michael Graetz had some valid concerns about the fair tax. For instance how is the government going to monitor compliance on purchases from Mexico and Canada? It also seems to me that the Fair Tax would increase the size of the IRS not do away with it.
Mr. Graetz did have valid concerns. As acknowledged, the Fair Tax isn't perfect, as it doesn't address spending at all. The biggest concern I share with Graetz is the fact that this is a bill before Congress, and they just can't help themselves but gut the good stuff and add irrelevant riders designed to kill it.
My concern is that the Fair Tax is still fairly complex. You need a book to explain it, after all.
Still- I haven't seen any other proposals out there that would repeal the 16th Amendment, end withholding, and eliminate the hidden taxes embedded in the goods & services we buy. As soon as I see a better proposal, I'll back it. For now, this is the best I've seen.
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