Fair Tax or Con Job?

I found this comment on the PP explaining issues regarding the fair tax. I hope you find this as educational as I do!

Buzz- I worked in sales taxation for better than 20 years for 9 Fortune 500 companies, and the FAIR???tax bears faint resemblance to state sales taxes.

Objection #1 – It is a CON JOB. The founders of FTorg gathered seed money to the tune of $tens of millions from Enron, Shell Oil, and other capital intensive companies. These $millions were shelled out to the “expert” economists cited ad infinitum in “the Book” as being authoritative. (They are authoritative as any other whore, I suppose, but then I digress. )The capital intensive manipulators have $hundreds of billions in deferred income tax liabilities that are FORGIVEN the moment FT passes.

Objection #2 – The FT hawkers claim that one gets “100% of your paycheck” and that there are 22% embedded tax savings to be had by FT passage. BOTH CLAIMS include the employee’s share of SS and Medicare. Both cannot be true. Even Boortz has been forced to admit this. Besides the FT applies to EMPLOYER PAID health insurance premiums and the taxes would more than likely be payroll-deducted, leaving less than “100%” of paychecks.

Objection #3 – While state sales/use taxes apply to business purchases, the FT has a blanket exemption for biz. The exemption of biz purchases and total taxation of individual purchases will mean unlimited opportunity for tax evasion – EVERYONE will be a ‘business.’

Objection #4 – The rate is too high at 30%. The states would convert their income taxes to a FT and the rate would be over 40% and over 50% to fully fund the government. People will evade the tax en masse.

Objection #5 – This nutty tax KILLS local finances. First, the 25 to 30% lower financing cost from municipal bond interest exemptions versus comparable corporates goes away with the FT. Second, the state and local governments have to PAY the FT to the feds on all purchases and payrolls not component to billed services (like police cars)to consumers/CONSTITUENTS, upon which the local/state govt. would charge the FT(like municipal water). This means ENORMOUS cost increases that will wind up in horrific property taxes. Third, the local governments in GA get huge revenues from sales tax that will be slashed once they compete with the 30% federal rate. Fourth, the states spend $100’s of billions on medicaid services that the FT will be tacked on to at 30%.(Remember there is no allowance for these taxes to go uncollected and the rate still be “revenue neutral”).

Objection #6 – The tax applies to hyperinflating costs like medical insurance, fuel, and food costs that are going up WAY faster than pay increases. The inflation tax that Ron Paul talks about is in the Fair???tax base, so you would be paying a tax proportional and on top of government created inflation. This is some sort of big government nirvana – they can run deficits producing inflation that lowers the cost of yesterday’s promises while funding them with greater tax revenues on inflating current and future prices. V.I. Lenin would be proud. The workers are fooled that they will be getting 100% of paycheck, but they won’t be keeping it very long before it runs short of living costs.

Objection #7 – The hawkers say one ‘decides’ when and how much tax to pay with their purchasing “decisions.” One does not “decide” when an accident happens or cancer strikes, trigerring a 30% tax on a costly tragedy.

Objection #8 – The hawkers say that individuals no longer will be audited, but HR 25 puts liability on individuals and makes them keep receipts. The IRS is REPLACED by the existing state revenue departments who already have rights to audit every one of us for sales/use tax.

Objection #9 – Any interest rate higher than the standard set in HR 25 is a taxable service on the excess and the lender will have to collect the FT on it. Goodbye credit card financing and many other types too – most will hurt the poor.

Objection #10 – Boortz keeps saying that we opponents wish to interpret the FT to our liking, but he keeps repeating that the shelf price will be inclusive of the FT, when the BILL says the opposite at checkout.

Objection # 11 – There are a whole host of excise taxes and fees – like the gas tax – that the FT does not replace.

Objection #12 – The embedded tax savings hawked as being 22% is a fiction. 11% is more like it. (based upon actual data)

Objection #13 – The FT will force all services that can be done via internet offshore and online. New York won’t be the center of stock brokerage, the Grand Caymans will.

Objection #14 – In response to #13, bartering, smuggling, and conversion of biz exemptions, the REVENOOERS will start using their obnoxious powers to audit individuals. (We are nearly come full circle, no?)

Objection #15 – The state of GEORGIA is already empowered to demand records of individual’s purchases and can ESTIMATE your sales tax liability if you cannot produce them.

Personally, I will be A-OK if this nutty deal passes, because I tend to look ahead and not buy the first con job that rolls down the pike, meaning that there are some pretty neat chances to capitalize on the misfortunes of the dumb clucks who do fall prey.

Follow the money.It works like a charm.

Giving Exxon Mobil $tens of billions while taxing Grandma’s nursing home care at 30% is “fair” eh?

This nutty deal will get anyone running on it absolutely killed.

They will DESERVE it.