Subject: Tax Reform Comment: Ladies and Gentlemen, As the block above states, I am an individual. Since only individuals pay taxes, any comment by corporations about the paying of taxes should be held as less meaningful than that of a tax payer since they only collect, not pay taxes. I work for a private company, I have a family, I (and the bank)own a home and a car. For the last three or four years I've had to hire an Accountant to do my taxes because I can't figure the stupid thing out. Last year I made more money in a year than ever before. I have jumped into the top ten or five percent of wage earners through hard work and preparation, what others call "luck". Because of this, the Federal Government will reward me by taking a bigger portion of my income while, at the same time, excluding more people in the lower income brackets in order to buy more votes. The Government will, under the current system, continue to reward the behaviors they approve of and punish those they don't. They will continue to shove a larger and larger portion of the revenue income onto a smaller and smaller segment of the population because the majority "feels" this is "fair". At some point it will be like balancing a pyramid on it's point instead of it's base. The revenue base of the Federal Government needs to be broadened, not reduced, thus giving it more resiliency to down-turns and other negative financial occurances. Everyone needs to contribute in order for the system to be truely "fair". The FairTax (HR25/S25) does these things. It also has built-in allowances to compensate those who truely don't have the resources to offer. It makes transparent the hidden taxes in the goods we manufacture, it removes the compliance burden in all goods making our exports much more competetive. It removes a huge burden on industry making it easier and more profitable for companies to build here in the US instead of overseas. It will remove a large and onerous bureaucracy from the landscape and return those hard working individuals to more productive pursuits. It will completely fund current Federal spending, which will help with some of the other spending challenges we face. It will provide for a more consistent revenue stream so that we can budget our spending accordingly. Will there be some transitional pains? Of course, individuals will be caught in some unforseeable dilemnas and suffer because of that. However, we should not avoid a decision because of some pain that is undeterminable. I will give up every one of my deductions to see the 16th Amendment go away and the FairTax enacted. The Nation will be better for it both in the near term and the long term. I, and my neighbors, will do what we can to help anyone who is negatively impacted locally. I can easily see a three to six month time frame for things to shake out. But when it's all said and done, this country will come out on the other side stronger than ever and much more productive. Thank you for your time and efforts. Sincerly, Charles Emery Aiken, SC |