FairTax questions?

Question

Do they tax imports also? if not can't rich people just buy their expensive stuff overseas and import them? or would that be more expensive than just buying it here and paying the tax?

Answer 1

Don't know, don't care. Fair tax will never work unless there is some way to make it fair to the poor and middle class. That's why a graduated income tax is good, the more you make the higher the rate you pay at. What they really need to do is do away with loopholes and deductions that favor special interest groups.

Answer 2

Yes, there are provisions for items purchased in other countries and brought back into the USA for the Fair Tax to be collected. This is done when a person clears Customs. It is treated similar to the duty that is paid now.

This will also help make "made in USA" items more affordable since the embedded Income taxes will be
eliminated in products made in America.

Several of the answers to this question appear to be from individuals that have a vested interest in maintaining the current income tax system. Statements similar to "it will never get passed by Congress" must have a short memory. Pres Bush and the Senate were positive the immigration bill would be passed -- until the American People shut down the Senate switchboard! The bill failed. In the early 1900's it was stated women would never get the right to vote! But they DID!
The Fair Tax will be the largest transfer of power from politicians back to the American People.

Taxing income penalizes a person for doing a good job and improving themselves. Tax loopholes allow the wealthy (not income) to avoid paying taxes. How much tax does Paris Hilton pay? With no job or income, very little! Under the Fair Tax, she would pay 23% everytime she buys an new item of clothing!

Pay tax based on "how you spend yoiur money" not "what you earn"

Answer 3

"If a consumer imports taxable property directly, they pay both the FairTax and any import duty together at customs."

From: http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_bills

Click on the "Plain English Summary" of the FairTax bill. This answer was found on Page 8.

Hmmm, looks like the FairTax is bugging a lot of people that just LOVE having money confiscated from their paychecks every working hour and believe that the people are powerless to change this.

Curious.

Answer 4

The misnamed "Fair Tax" is nothing more than a bunch of political hoopla that has exactly zero chance of ever becoming law. It would disproportionately burden the middle class and the poor would be decimated by it. On top of that, it would generate massive amounts of black marketing as people tried to avoid tax rates that would approach 35% or more once state sales taxes were added in. And fraud triggered by the so-called "pre-bate" feature would make the current problems with EIC fraud and income tax evasion look like a walk in the park.

Income taxes are the fairest of all possible taxes as they are directly linked to the taxpayer's ability to pay. No other tax has such automatic built-in fairness. Sales taxes -- which is what the so-called "Fair Tax" really is, and a massively costly one at that -- disproportionately affect the poor as they spend nearly all of their income on essential goods and services. On the other hand, the wealthy tend to amass wealth not spend every penny, so they would see a huge tax CUT under this Un-Fair Tax.

Answer 5

The "Fair Tax" is nothing more than a fantasy. If there was some way to accomplish the wild fantasies of those that support the "Fair Tax" there would be one last obstacle that could never be overcome, Congress!! Every politician would want to tinker with the new fair tax to make it just a little fairer for his supporter (those who donate $$$$). The New FRS (Fair Revenue Service) would need to produce a number of regulations to define what those Congress folks were attempting to do. In about a hundred years our great grand-kids would be here talking about introducing an income tax that congress would not tinker with!