Should there be a national sales tax instead of income tax?
@ConservativeArtist (201)
United States
February 4, 2007 5:02pm CST
Should there be a national sales tax on all goods purchased in the US, instead of an income tax?
My thought is yes, a flat, national sales tax would bring in more revenue, and be MUCH easier on all of us.
What do you think? Why or why not? If you like the sales tax, what should the rate be? 5%? 10%? I would especially love to hear from anyone who works for the IRS.
2 people like this
3 responses
@kathy77 (7486)
• Australia
5 Feb 07
Well you had best be careful as we have both in Australia, we pay a gst which is a tax on everything that we purchase which is 10% of the product and also an income tax. So I do not think that you really want both, it does bring up the revenue though for the country. Some products are just too much with this added tax to buy especially for the unemployed, and seniors that have paid out a lot of money through out their lives for the country.
@ConservativeArtist (201)
• United States
7 Feb 07
Hmmmm. I never thought of that.
Still, like I said in a comment to Patrin, higher taxes means higher rates of tax evasion. The poor are hopefully not buying anything too expensive anyways, but wealthy people do like to spend money, and if they have more of it to spend, they will do so. That's good for the economy, even if they are investing it. One thing's for sure: wealthy people do not keep their money dormant under a matress. It is getting used somehow.
As far as people who truly don't have much money, and a sales tax would prevent them from buying what they need, I'm not against some sort of relief program for those under certain income levels. Ideally, I would like to see that assistance come from NGOs and community organizations, like churches, and not from the government.
Thanks for the comment!
1 person likes this
@coslenchip (101)
• United States
7 Feb 07
I gave a very detailed description on a different forum of different types of taxes, the pros, the cons, etc...
Main concepts:
1. A single tax is beter than a continual tax
2. It is better to tax consumption than anything else
3. Taxes are way too high right now, the key to taxes is not which tax but how much is spent. The government spends at least 5 times as much as they really should.
So, if the question is "is a sales tax better than an income tax?" the answer is a resounding yes. If the question is, "should we accept a federal sales tax with the promise to reduce the income tax?" the answer is a big fat NO! First reduce government spending on an annual basis. Then, eliminate the income tax altogether, then impose a national sales tax. I personally do agree with tax rates be slightly different on different types of goods (large scope, such as food, or utilities). But, there should be limitations so that the government cannot cave to specific special interests. Post cannot have a different tax rate than Kellogs, for example.
@ConservativeArtist (201)
• United States
8 Feb 07
I agree with you. Government does spend too much money. Also, certain types of goods should be exempt from national sales tax, like food and medicine, but everything else should have the same tax. If rates are different on different items, then would this inadvertantly discourage spending on certain products?
@ProAmerica (131)
• United States
7 Feb 07
I think the idea of having a flat tax would be great for our country. The economy will grow and people will have more personal income to spend on things. I hear Neal Boortz talk about this alot, and he is right on.
