Comments on: Is The FairTax Act Really Fair?

By: How to Avoid the Three Worst Financial Traps — P2P No Bank

How to Avoid the Three Worst Financial Traps — P2P No Bank — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:08:46 +0000

[...] Is The FairTax Act Really Fair? I am starting to think so. Right now, I am reading “The FairTax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS” by Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder. Basically the book is how about how we should replace the IRS and all the associated taxes it takes out…… [...]

By: david

david — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:49:47 +0000

I’m with you Luke…if only we could get something like this passed, it would sure make life simpler. The tax code as it is ridiculous!

Those people who say that the rich won’t pay their fair share because the tax would not be progressive – the rich don’t pay a fair amount now, so if that is a main concern, it really would not be any different.

By: Luke

Luke — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 04:17:52 +0000

I liked the book a ton and really would love for something of this nature to be implemented…Of course our government is so damn big an onerous that getting this off the ground is a task that wont happen…

There is something about everyone paying equally that I like….It is simply put….fair.

I dont make millions, but being taxed at the same rate and on consumption promotes me to save IMHO…It promotes me to buy second hand and also hold onto items a tad longer than normal…And the whole rebate thing is great in theory, but I dont think the general population would jump on board…

By: David

David — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 03:05:16 +0000

That’s EXACTLY what I thought at first, but now that I read the book I understand it better. Of course, I will look into it a little deeper using other sources, but so far it makes sense after reading about it.

By: Shadox

Shadox — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 02:59:48 +0000

This plan is bad for a number of reasons. Here are the first two:

1. It is regressive – poorer people who spend most if not all of their paychecks would be taxed on every dollar immediatly. People who are better off and save some of their money, will pay taxes on some of it, and the very rich – who sometimes spend mere pennies on every dollar that they make would pay close to nothing… sounds fair to you?

2. It is no progressive – the plan as I undertstand is would tax everyone’s consumption at the same rate. So, while the rich are only taxed on a tiny portion of their income, and the poor are taxed on every dime, the poor would also be paying the same RATE on every dollar spent… double whammy for the poor.

Sounds like an excellent plan to me…

By: David

David — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:40:26 +0000

According to the plan KMC, those are still tax free…

By: KMC

KMC — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 20:37:10 +0000

Sounds good…until I think about the tax-deferral of my 401(k) or the money from Roth IRA distributions (tax-free). All those things get completely thrown out of whack with a VAT. I’ve been saving based on an income tax; if that changes, my whole strategy is dead. I don’t think I’ll have too much to worry about though. I don’t see a flat tax or VAT happening.

By: Mer

Mer — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:31:54 +0000

That plan is already in place….they take money out of each check and then people are happy to get a refund of their own money.

I know, and it’s appalling. I will definitely check it out, though.

By: David

David — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:28:53 +0000

That plan is already in place….they take money out of each check and then people are happy to get a refund of their own money. I have no idea exactly what they take out unless I go look…I would much rather get all my money and then only get taxed when I buy stuff. The history of the income tax in this book is very interesting; it was never supposed to be. Get it from the library and take a look. I was not that much in favor of this until I started reading it, and now it makes total sense.

By: Mer

Mer — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:07:58 +0000

So the plan is for the government to overtax us each individually, essentially compelling each citizen into giving the government a free loan, and then cross its bureaucratic, pudgy little fingers that we we’ll forget to ask for the money back.

As a rule, I *really* like flat taxes, but there is nothing flat about either reserving all taxes to come out of consumer’s pockets (which explains why we’re paying an additional 15%) or issuing government “refund” checks.