Subject: FairTax (consumption tax) (HR25/S25) Comment: I know that you have probably seen this before but wanted to say it anyway.... The FairTax is the only plan that meets all of the goals that the President is looking for: 1) It reduces the burden on American tax payers by completely untaxing the poor; taxes visitors and illegal aliens and ensures that no one can get around paying taxes. 2) It encourages job growth by eliminating the massive overhead that the income tax forces upon every company in America and allows them to thus reduce prices and increase spending on what adds value for the company (additional jobs and productivity). 3) The FairTax recognizes the importance of home mortgages by un-taxing them completely. 4) Charitable deductions are completely recognized because they are not taxes at all. In addition charitable donations will be encouraged not as a means to avoid paying taxes but by not being taxed themselves (i.e. Money that is contributed to charitable organizations is not taxed and there is more money available to donate because each person in America has their complete check). This is even more true from a Christian perspective because there will be no more wondering whether to tithe (donate 10%) based upon net or gross earnings; it will all be gross earnings. An additional benefit of the fairtax is the transparency that it forces upon the government. As a government of/by/for the people, transparency should be a requirement of any tax system so that the people know when and why their taxes are being increased. A consumption tax forces this transparency so that everyone in America can see when their taxes are increasing and they can then ask their representatives why. With transparency also comes responsibility on the part of the government because the government will have to account for the taxes that are coming in and try to keep spending in line so they don't have to ask for a tax increase that everyone will know about. The VAT does NOT have this exceptional benefit. |