Posted: Sep 01, 2005 By: Steve Abramson

Subject: Simplified, Competitive Tax System

Comment: Why not a VAT to REPLACE corporate income taxes and eliminate double taxation of dividends? (Being border adjustable, VAT's level the playing field for imports. Our exports are currently burdened in their price by the cost of corporate taxes paid on income, and our imports arrive without much of the tax burden of the exporting country to the extent they use VAT's...all accepted under GATT rules.)

Why not a progressive (tiered) Personal Income Tax where the base includes all earned and unearned income EQUALLY...with NO deductions except charitables and mortgage interest (capped above a reasonable amount)?

Why not consider a VAT to for single-payer healthcare under the NEHB program? (Provide universal healthcare and remove the direct burden from corporations who are dropping people rather than pay it. Recall that in President-elect Clinton's first economic summit, the chairman of Ford Motor disclosed that their cost of healthcare per vehicle was as much as steel.)


Why not consider shifting the base for Social Security/Medicare to a VAT? That would be less regressive than our current wage-base with a cap. (Those on or about to go on SS would get an increase equal to the tax percentage, and the same for EITC.)

VAT would collect revenue from the 12 million illegals and from the underground drug trade...huge.