What would a FAIR Tax plan look like?

Question

Everybody complains that the current tax structure is unfair, but there is not consensus on what a fair plan would look like. Flat tax? National sales tax? What's YOUR opinion?

One problem I see with the Fair Tax plan is that it includes sending checks to everyone, every month. That, to me, is just fertile ground for fraud. Think of how much fraud there is in medicare, social security, welfare, etc, and I think you'll agree that any plan that includes sending out checks to everyone is something to be avoided.

Answer 1

A flat tax on income and assets - with no "shelters" or "breaks" for the ones that can afford to pay.

If everyone paid their fair share of taxes, our money situation in this country might not look so bad.

Answer 2

Basically we already have a national tax (Federal)--it's called income tax. According to many, it's illegal. The 16th & 17th Amendments were never ratified by the states. They were put in place by crooked politicians. State & local taxes were added to screw us out of a little more of our hard-earned money.

When was the last time you visited the Constitution of the US? The Bill of Rights? It is clearly laid out what we are to pay. Taxes are to be paid across the board, rich & poor alike. The problem with our current (corrupt) politicians, the American people have been sold out to special interest groups & the very rich. The richest people in the land (1%), pay the least, with their numerous tax shelters & deductions. eg Enron paid no taxes 3 out of 5 years. This is a matter of public record.

My opinion is, try to take away a rich mans money, you'll see how quickly our politicians fall from their graces. Why do you think the GOP gets so much money for campaigns? The very rich & the special interest groups, that's where. There is no way to tax fairly, it's gone on far too long. Next question?

Answer 3

I consider the system we have now as being pretty fair. The system is set up so that the people that benefit the most from being an American, pays the most in taxes.

What good would it do to try to make people that have no money, pay more taxes? You cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip! There are people in this country that are losers, and always will be losers that mooch off the rest of us, and never pay taxes. I am glad that I am not like them!

Then there are people like me that will always work and pay taxes to support those losers that do not pay taxes. There are also a lot of people that pay a lot more tax than me.

Bottom line: I am just glad that I am an American and paying taxes is a small price to pay to live the life that I have the opportunity to live.

Answer 4

Flat tax or sales tax would be better than the debacle we have right now. A bazillion dollars is spent complying with the tax code and that simply runs up the price of goods.

I'm sure someone is going to whine about poor people, but poor people would not pay taxes under the flat tax and sales tax (Fair Tax) proposals that are currently out there.

And politicians and lobbyist would have a severe decrease in power.

Answer 5

People, the top 50% pay 95+% of all taxes..
Top 5% pay 53.25% of all taxes.
The top 1% is paying more than ten times the federal income taxes than the bottom 50%
Illegal aliens overall paying virtually zero (those that are are still underpaying their fair share).

Any idea that the rich are not paying is pure bunk.
They are able to shelter more, thats it.

Btw, dont forget all of us pay more than income taxes..
u pay state,local,sales,fees etc... which many times
will more than double your tax payout.

The poor would be the least hurt in the new system, while the current system hurts them the most.

Btw, any tax other than fair tax will still allow the rich to compensate for tax increases... by laying off a employee to counter the increase in taxes in their business.

Btw, I did that in 1994, when my taxes doubled due to federal regulation changes, I laid off 5% of my personell to retain the slim profit margine I finally got.
No longer have the biz because I sold it in 1995 late for nonbiz reasons.

Answer 6

The Fair Tax does seem like a good solution, however, I do have my concerns about it. Pros to it are that it forces EVERYONE to pay taxes, because it taxes on consumption, as opposed to income. That way, drug dealers, illegal immigrants and tax evaders don't get out of paying tax.

However, what does concern me is the fact that "fair tax" would be a form of taxation called "regressive", which put a higher tax burden on the poor. Regressive taxes are things like sales tax, sin tax, per-unit taxes, etc. Income tax is a "progressive" tax, which puts a higher tax burden on the rich. It is in my opinion that those who benefit most from our society, should bear a little more responsibility in keeping the society that sustains them. Why? Well, a) because they can afford it and b) it is good for the rich to have a strong base of consumers requiring their services. It will be interesting to see what happens with this debate. Good question. :o)

Read more about progressive vs. regressive taxation:

http://www.psnw.com/~bashford/taxation.html

Answer 7

Taxes are one of the requirements for a civilized society. Nobody likes them but would you want to live in a country where nobody pays taxes? (Somalia, Afghanistan, North Korea).

A fair tax plan would be one that is simple and progressive.
Taxing consumption is the best way to go. Taxing investing and savings is dumb.
For example, energy consumption should be taxed more. This way, people and companies would save more and try to be more efficient.
Income taxes should be lowered but sales taxes should be increased, this way people and companies would have more disposable income and would be more likely to save it or invest it in order to keep it.

Of course politicians will never do this. Why? Because most people would be against it. In the short term it would be painful and the benefits not immediately obvious. The idea of taxing consumption but not savings and investments is one that most economists agree on, not because it would make sense for us and our selfish ways, but because they would benefit future generations the most. However we all know how much we enjoy screwing future generations... It's all about me at this moment requiring instant gratification.

Answer 8

A flat tax, for everyone fixed at 15% of gross income. We'd have more money in the system than we'd know what to do with it.

Answer 9

You pay, I dont.

That's fair ..... since I'm single with no kids and am sick of forking out for everybody's crap and inability to use a condom. Over the course of 30 years of that it may almost balance the scales.


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