If you dislike paying income taxes...
By claudia413
@claudia413 (4280)
United States
May 13, 2007 10:36pm CST
then check out FairTax.org. I am a member of the group in Florida and support The FairTax Act. The following is from their web site:
The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment.
The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 1025) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.
The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.
The FairTax:
Abolishes the IRS
Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
Allows American products to compete fairly
Reimburses the tax on purchases of basic necessities
Enables retirees to keep their entire pension
Enables workers to keep their entire paycheck
This sounds like a much better and fairer way to tax those of us in the US. Do yourself a favor and check out the website, sign up, and then try to get your state's senators and congressmen/congresswomen to support the bills to pass the FairTax Act.
After you have checked it out, let me know what you think about it.
2 people like this
5 responses
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
14 May 07
I briefly scanned through the site a bit and have a couple points to ponder...
What if I'm buying all my goods overseas? Are the other countries I am buying from going to tax me and send the money to the US? NO!!! Good for me because then I pay no tax. Bad for US because the US is again without funds needed to run this country.
Yeah, nobody wants to pay tax, but nobody wants to quit driving on the roads around here, sending our kids to school, or some of the other benefits we have because of the taxes we pay... Once a national retail sales tax is put into effect people will buy less within our country to avoid the tax.
It makes more sense to me to work toward proper spending of our tax money...
Just a thought... And, yes my profession and training (CPA) does have an effect on my decision on this matter, but not because abolishing taxes would effect me financially but because I have a little knowledge of what is actually involved with the income tax system.
1 person likes this
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
15 May 07
Do a little more research into the FairTax Act, and you'll find a lot of your questions will be answered. People will be paying a tax on goods imported from overseas to help our industries prosper. The NRST will replace most of the taxes we now pay. Check it out.
Also, CPAs will still have jobs. They can help the companies that collect the sales tax instead of helping individuals.
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
15 May 07
Even with a flat tax, we'd still have jobs. Tax is a relatively small part of our year. I'm actually playing catch-up still from tax season - I'm so far behind on my NORMAL work.
I will look more closely into that site, although as with any system, there's always loopholes, downfalls, upsides. There will be the same problems, just a different issue behind it.
1 person likes this
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
15 May 07
I know what you mean about NORMAL work. That never goes away, does it?
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
14 May 07
sounds good! income tax can be so frustrating due to all those loopholes. and (although I benefit from it) the redistributing of money sounds a bit like atheistic communism to me. You know, when you do not pay so much in income tax but somehow due to deductions and credits you end up getting back a sizable sum? "Take from the rich and give to the poor" also steals charity.
1 person likes this
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
14 May 07
It's not redistributing money, it's doing away with the IRS and all deductions from your paychecks. It's not taking from the rich and giving to the poor either. It's making all pay their "fair share" of taxes through a National Retail Sales Tax rather than an illegal income tax as it is done now, with all its loopholes and deductions. Check it out and then come back and tell me what you think. There never was supposed to be an "income" tax, yet it's being collected yearly.
@ossie16d (11821)
• Australia
15 May 07
This is interesting Claudia but unfortunately I cannot see that it will happen. I am sure that there will be some smart person who will find a way to avoid paying anything, or very little under a system such as is mentioned here.
We have GST (goods and services tax) here in Australia. This replaced the state and sales taxes that were previously paid, and in fact it did make many goods cheaper. Some things are exempt, and that included medical, fresh foods and a few things like that, but basically it applies to the majority of goods and services. This GST is in addition to income tax, but it has meant that there is more money available and so income tax has been able to be reduced several times in the past couple of years.
The one problem is that some people will still trade, i.e. buy and/or sell, for cash. This means that there is no GST paid and so the black economy still exists. Perhaps not as large as it was before the introduction of GST but it is still there all the same. The things I do like about GST though is that the price shown has to include the GST, so it is not an added extra. The rate is fixed at 10% and cannot be changed without the agreement of all the states as well as the federal government. That sort of system would be hard for the US, given the number of states that there are.
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
15 May 07
As proposed now, the NRST (National Retail Sales Tax) would replace national income taxes and other taxes which are taken out of our paychecks. It has the backing of about 60 of our congressmen at last count. The flat tax, as proposed, presently has only 4 backers. It'll be interesting to see if we can get more of our congressmen to back the FairTax Act.
I'm sure there will always be people who cheat the system, no matter what the system is. Maybe the IRS workers will have a new job...LOL.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
15 May 07
I am all for this actually. I'd heard about it years ago and would like to see it come about. I actually heard once that all the income tax that comes in west of the Mississippi goes to pay for the IRS. Go figure. I hope they decide to go with the Fair Tax Act. The only problem I do for see is unemployment. All those IRS people put out of work, let alone the accountants that do just taxes, will put a strain on the economy for awhile until they find other jobs. For most it will just go from one pencil pushing job to another but for some it might be harder to find another job.
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
15 May 07
Actually, there will be many jobs available to the IRS workers and CPAs alike. The companies who collect the NRST have to file reports to the government, and the government needs workers who will get the prebates to us out here. Read more on it.
@brothertuck (1257)
• United States
14 May 07
The only problem with this idea is that it assumes that the income tax is actually legal. It is not. There is no law that says you must pay income tax.
Do a search for America Freedom to Fascism.
Then go to http://www.brothertuck.net/NoMoreTaxes.htm , download the first chapter of this eBook, and if you are interested in the entire book, we can work something out at a discount to the offer, contact me at http://www.contactify.com/7685 .
1 person likes this
@claudia413 (4280)
• United States
14 May 07
The FairTax Act does away with the IRS and filing income tax returns.
I agree with you about the income tax not being legal. I've watched the entire film America: Freedom to Fascism (1 hr 45 mins) and found it to be quite enlightening. That's why I'm in favor of The FairTax Act...it does away with the IRS, and all payroll taxes. Check into it and then tell me what you think.
There is no law that says we have to pay "income tax", but they're collecting it. Let's help do away with the IRS.
