Why I Like The Fair Tax and Won’t Vote for It
by Mike Huckabee and the Fair Tax.
A Friend has asked me to take a closer look at her preferred candidate for president in 2012 – Mike Huckabee. Since his history is well-known, I’m looking at where he stands on various issues.
Gov. Huckabee is an advocate of the “Fair Tax” (a national retail sales tax) and has stated that he will sign it into law if he is elected president. The bill would need to be recommended by the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, and pass both the House and the Senate before he could sign it.
A quick look at Wikipedia showed that such a tax could have both positive and negative effects.
THE GOOD:
*The Fair Tax will replace all federal income taxes (the alternative minimum tax , corporate income taxes , and capital gains taxes ), payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare taxes ), gift taxes , and estate taxes with a single national retail sales tax .
*The tax would be levied once at the final retail sale for personal consumption on new goods and services.
*The sales tax rate would be $30 on top of every $100 spent—$130 total. However, prices wouldn’t zoom up 30%. Businesses would no longer pay income tax or administer employee withholding so they would have lower production costs they could pass along to consumers.
*It would reduce the number of tax filers from 100 million to 14 million, increasing the likelihood of business audits, making tax evasion much more risky. The overwhelming majority of purchases occur in major retail outlets, which are very unlikely to evade the Fair-Tax and risk losing their business licenses.
*A good would be considered “used” and not taxable if the Fair-Tax has been paid previously on it.
*It would create a powerful disincentive to spend money.and the incentive to save would increase.
*A monthly payment to all family households will be an advance rebate, or prebate, of tax on purchases up to the poverty level. Proposed 2008 Fair-Tax monthly prebate schedule:
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Post CommentSue Nuckles
On November 22, 2009 at 10:46 am
intersting article.
Christian
On November 27, 2009 at 7:24 am
I am a strong advocate of the FairTax since it is remarkably better than the current system all around, and the winners far outweigh the losers under the system. Even the losers don’t lose that much when all is said and done.
A couple things stated here aren’t technically correct.
First, the tax is inclusive, not exclusive. The 30% tax isn’t added on top of the $100 in spending for a total of $130 spent, as mentioned. The rate is an inclusive tax of 23% meaning the $100 in purchases already includes the tax and the business sends in $23 to the government. (23% of $100) Some view that as a purchase of $77 with a 30% tax rate making it a total of $100. Semantics, but the same dollar amount… $23, not $30.
Second, the Bush panel did a tremendous disservice to the FairTax by, um, not studying it. They created their own version of a sales tax, called it the FairTax, and then put out a lot of misinformation…including a rate that is much higher than the plan calls for.
The idea of the prebate being an entitlement is a little laughable. It’s no more an entitlement than the current earned income tax credit, home mortgage deduction, child credits, etc, etc. It’s just a lot easier to understand and make use of. Plus, it applies to everyone equally instead of allowing the government to pick winners and losers. Another funny fact? The total of the prebates is actually less than the tax revenue currently lost due to all those deductions that most people need an accountant to even understand how to get. With the FairTax, the money just shows up.
There’s other points to be made as well, but I’ll let my fellow FairTaxers take a stab at them.
Thanks for mention and for looking at the plan. I guarantee that the more you dig into it, the more you will like it and the more you will see that the naysayers usually have to invent a bunch of facts just to make their point.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
~Christian
Huckabee 2012
FairTax NOW!
Sam D.
On November 27, 2009 at 12:32 pm
There are two books that do a great job of explaining the Fair Tax. They are The Fair Tax Book and Fair Tax Tha Truth by Boortz & Linder. Easy reads and vastly superior resources to wikiwhatever!!!
It seems you are on the right track to being a true supporter. I hope that you take the little bit of time it takes to read the books, and that reading them turns you into the Fair Tax supporter you really want to be!
Sam
Marc Bohemier
On November 27, 2009 at 6:18 pm
The one fact you mentioned was that 400 European and Asian companies will build their next plants here in the United States if the Fair Tax passes and the 100 companies that will move their headquarters here to our shores. What you failed to mention is the hundreds of American companies that have left our shores and reheadquarters in other countries that have far less income tax burdens toward them. These companies will also return to the United States and re set up shop here. If for no other reason but creating the jobs that the Fair Tax would do, this should be enough reason to support and vote for it. Our economy would be seeing the largest economic boom we have ever seen since the industrial reveloution. Let alone the trillions of American dollars sitting in offshore accounts that would immeadiatly come back into our economy only to help grow it. The Fair Tax is the one single bill in congress today that will grow the United States back to the super power economiclly we once were. As far as the poor paying the majority of the taxes under the fair tax, your math is completely wrong. The prebate is intended as a return of taxes paid. As you said a family of 4 would recieve $675.00 a month in prebates. That comes to $8100.00 a year. Now that family of 4 would have to spend at least $34,000 a year in new purchases before they even begin to pay federal taxes during that year. I don’t believe $34,000 a year is called poverty here yet. I believe that is middle class pay. Even at that at a yearly expenditure of that amount there would be no taxes yet paid. Along with that, now that we have fair tax as law this family has not only received the prebate on a monthly basis but has also received at least a 30% increase in their earnings as the federal with holding tax, social secutity tax, and FICA taxes are no longer being taken from them on a weekly basis. As far as being a democrat believing in helping the poor I can’t believe you didn’t see this as the most positive way ever for the working poor in this country to be able to raise themselves out of poverty. I hope you rethink this aspect of the fair tax, because it is the greatest way I see of elimating poverty in this country for good. 1) Huge influx of good paying jobs into our country.
2)30% increase in take home pay on the working poor.
3)prebate for all taxes for the working poor.
Adakin Valorem
On November 28, 2009 at 8:15 pm
“Bush’s Advisory Panel for Federal Tax Reform stated that the prebate would be the largest entitlement program in American history, and would “make most American families dependent on monthly checks from the federal government”
The FairTax prebate would return approximately $600 Billion each year to taxpayers. And the above statement calls it “the largest entitlement program in American history”.
On the other hand, with current tax law every April 15th the IRS returns over $900 Billion to taxpayers for their overpayments. With it is an “entitlement” mentality where people plan on that tax refund to facilitate purchase of big ticket items, or pay down debts, or fund college tuitions, or make other purchase decisions.
People already plan their finances around their tax refund. Using the author’s reference, the current tax refund system would be the largest entitlement program.
So how it that the FairTax’s prebate is considered so detrimental? Inquiring minds want to know!
SC Islander
On November 28, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Let me see if I understand this correctly. If I\’m self employed (paying both sides of FICA) and earning around $50k a year, my current tax bracket is 25%… plus the 15.3% in employment taxes for a grand total of 40.3%… so earning $50k, I net $30k.
Today, when I pull a $100 bill out of my pocket, I first had to earn $166.00 before I\’m allowed to keep that hundred bucks.($166 – 40% = $100)
Even if the vendor has to charge me $130 for that $100 item I\’m still way ahead of the game since I would have $26 left in my pocket that would have otherwise disappeared in taxes.
Yup, throw me in that briar patch!
peeggy nuckles
On December 4, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Thanks to everyone who commented here. I admit that I based this article on one Wikipedia reading. I’ve grown interested in the fair tax and will visit Fairtax.org to learn more about it.
When i wrote this article, I didn’t expect it to be read by anyone other than a few friends. I am very curious as to how you found me. I know a link to this article must be posted on some web site. I’d like to know where. I’ll study the Fair Tax a little better and write another, more accurate, and hopefully more friendly article.
When I do, I’d like a chance to visit your web site and let you all know, that I’ve written another. Then you can tell me if I have a better, more accurate understanding.
Peggy Nuckles
elvis mcneely
On December 12, 2009 at 4:48 pm
@peggy nuckles
Thanks for sharing and being brave to re-comment. Don’t be fooled by what analysts are saying that you pay 30%, on top of some number (say $100). The true math has been dispelled here.
Under a FairTax tax reform: If you buy something that cost $100, $23 of that $100 goes to the government. The retailer keeps $77.
One quick way to look at this, the fairtax basically shifts tax collection from income to consumption. The tax liability and amount collected will be the same. Though, there is some debate going on that more tax could be collected since so many criminals never pay taxes (under current tax law). Under the fairtax they would pay since they buy goods.
Please do research it more. And, you can’t believe everything you read on WikiPedia.