The reason groups (businesses, Indian tribes, whatever) pay
guys like Abramoff big $$ is usually to get some kind of
favorable tax legislation thru, like deductions & credits
for certain industries. Our tax code is over 60,000 pages
long now. It is so broken, it can never be fixed! This
creates fertile ground for corruption of public officials. It
also means those of us in the middle class pay the higher tax
burden, because we don't get the special treatment. There are
people out there trying to change this -- not just complain
about it! THE FAIR TAX Legislation pending before the
US Congress as HR 25/S25
I believe that one of the most significant grass roots
movements of our times is that of replacing the federal income
tax (and related Social Security payroll, capital gains,
estate, corporate and other Federal taxes) with a national
sales tax. This is not a Democrat or Republican movement. It
is a “People’s” movement; an American taxpayer’s movement.
It is simple. You take home 100% of what you earn. You support
the federal government by paying a tax on what you buy and on
the services you use. In that sense, you, not the politicians
or the IRS, have control over the amount of taxes you pay.
It is still a progressive tax protecting the needy by a
“prebate” system of monthly payments to each family of an
amount to cover the taxes on the “necessities” for that
family. This effectively ends taxes up to the poverty level
and lowers the tax rate for lower- and middle- income.
It eliminates the time and cost (estimated at $250,000,000,000
annually) of complying with the income tax code and the IRS
regulations. You, the taxpayer, foot that bill, either
directly or as a part of the passed-along “hidden costs” of
corporate production. The total hidden costs vary from product
to product but average out to be about 22% of retail costs.
When the corporate tax is eliminated, the cost of those
products should (because of competitive pressure) be reduced
by that 22%.
An item is only taxed once, when it is first sold. There is no
tax on resale’s; not on your house, your car, etc.
Under the present income tax system, the trillion dollar plus
(that is $1,000,000,000,000) shadow economy (legal, but
unreported income) and underground economy (illegal income
from drugs, etc.) escape taxation. Under the Fair Tax, when
those funds enter the legitimate economy and they are spent,
they will be taxed.
With the elimination of taxes on the income of corporations
(which are passed along to and paid by you, the consumer)
companies and off-shore money can come back home, creating
jobs and spawning economic growth. Foreign investments will
also flow into our new “tax haven”. Please visit fairtax.org
to learn more.