Why don't we replace the income tax with a sales tax?

Question

I'm talking on a federal level. A tax of 15-20% would be roughly equal to what the IRS takes in in sales tax. This would be more fair to the people, because it taxes on how much they spend, not on what they do for a living (work). Also, you have some influence over how much you pay in taxes. Seems like a good idea to me, are there any drawbacks? Oh yeah it would also make taxes much simpler, cause tax code is about 10x longer than the Bible.

Answer 1

Why don't we do it? Honestly, probably because too many people are afraid of change. But if a sales tax were to replace the income tax, the FairTax might be a good way to go. Contrary to popular belief, it does NOT raise taxes on the poor. There are two reasons for this: 1) because a rebate is given on all spending up to the poverty level and 2) because the FairTax eliminates the 15% Social Security/Medicare taxes which poor working people pay every dollar of their earned income but is never paid on over $100,000 of income or on unearned income, so the rich largely avoid it. In fact, there is a calculator at http://www.fairtax.org/PDF/FairTaxCalculator.xls and you can play around with different income scenarios. There is also a very good analysis presenting both advantages and drawbacks at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairTax. The FairTax proposal is a 23% tax-inclusive rate. However it would replace not only the Federal Income Tax but also the Social Security Tax, Medicare Tax, Alternative Minimum Tax, Corporate Tax, Capital Gains Tax, and Estate Tax.

Answer 2

Sales taxe by their very nature are regressive. The poor would pay a lot more.

By the way....the group that is pushing for a national sales tax isn't talking about 15-20%. They are talking 30%!!!! By their own numbers, it would take a 30% sales tax to equal the revenue of today's income tax.

Answer 3

between the biggest tax cheats i be attentive to became an proprietor of a small save. He cheated each and each month on his sales tax returns. there are various motives jointly as a countrywide sales tax changing the present income does not artwork yet they're too multiple to show here.

Answer 4

The fairtax proposal is similar to what you are proposing. The fairtax people say that the tax would have to be 23% - that might be accurate, might be conservative, but in any case your 15-20% is low.

A major argument for the "fairtax" proposal is that it would tax the underground economy, the people now working "under the table" to avoid taxes. A major argument against is that it hits low income people harder than the wealthy.

Answer 5

Under that plan poor people would pay a lot more because they have to spend ALL their paycheck to survive .

The better off , do not spend it all , they bank it , put it into investments and get their brokers going .
They could save a lot not having to pay capital gains and stuff !

If you can talk the poor people into paying about twice as much in taxes ,
GO for it !



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Answer 6

The tax code is long. A Sales Tax wouldn't help out the poor at all. Plus it would put CPAs out jobs.

Answer 7

That's fine. Just be sure to apply sales tax to EVERY purchase ... including investments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.

Answer 8

It still favors the rich. I don't see it working. It would just hurt the retailers even more.

Answer 9

Because poor people eat as much food as you do.