The FairTax, Join in!

[Andir]

JMan said:
Simple: Large amount of income =/= being rich =/= paying more tax.

1. People who are rich and save their money (to make more money with) aren't spending it. So that ties up a good deal of the "potential" tax.

2. Just because you have a large income does not necessarily mean you live the wonderful life. 100,000 in NYC doesn't go nearly as far as it does in Denver, Colorado. The expense difference causes those people in higher cost of living states to pay a larger portion of the taxes. Is that "fair"?

3. Large Families may have a large income and a huge expense bill. Is it fair to make them pay more tax when their overall standard of living may be lower? By the way, poor people are more likely to have large families than rich.

And that's just off the top, without even digging into this. I'm sure there's some standard response to all of those, so go ahead and post them and let's see where this goes. By the way, I'm heading out, so don't expect a response from me anytime soon. And I'm not opposed to the fair tax. I'm posting what I consider my first concerns the concept.

 My few concerns on your perspective here are that there a very few people (percentage wise) that are in the very high tax bracket and those with money will likely find a way to spend it (or whoever inherits it will.)  In essense, the money will be spent in one form or another, those that save their money for a later date re-inforce the economy later when it's needed.  If they are out of a job and not contributing to the income tax, they are most likely still spending money and paying the consumption tax.  In effect, those that save for a rainy day are protecting the economy in the grand scale of things.

And about the cost of living.  The 23% you would be spending on everyday things would likely be less than you pay out in taxes unless you are one of those that lives with your credit card maxxed out and every penny goes to repay that month to month.  The poor will likely be those that spend the entire paycheck as you noted, but the percentage going out is less than that being spent in income taxes, add that to the "prebate" and you'll likely have more money in the "less fortunate" people's hands year to year.