U.S. Congress - H.R.25 Fair Tax Act of 2009
H.R.25 - Fair Tax Act of 2009
To promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the States. view all titles (2)
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- Short: Fair Tax Act of 2009 as introduced.
- Official: To promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national sales tax to be administered primarily by the States. as introduced.
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Displaying 91-120 of 308 total comments.
Economists at MIT and Harvard have done many studies on this. It proves out the theory. In addition, if revenues go down SO DO SERVICES. We can NOT SPEND OUR WAY TO PROSPERITY. When you have a shortfall in your budget at home do you SPEND MORE or SPEND LESS to get it back in control?
Government needs to do the same things as responsible American household budgeting has to do. Revenue is DOWN then SPENDING IS DOWN.
Then they should cut back on kickbacks and worthless spending choices that don’t benefit America as a whole.
This is a horrible idea. Though too many people pay no taxes in this country, the poor should not pay taxes. A national sales tax would unduly burden the poor since most of their money goes to consumables. How do you think companies like Procter & Gamble, GE, etc. would do if a large portion of the public could no longer afford their products?
I agree that the IRS should be downsized, and those that are “supposed” to owe money do not have loopholes in which to get around the tax code. There should be a national, progressive income tax that can be filled out on a postcard. No more legislation or social engineering through the tax code. If you make $1MM a year, you owe $300,000, it should be that simple. I don’t care how many kids you have or if you own a house. If you get paid in stock options, you owe capital gains tax on the amount you sell.
If it were this easy, with no loopholes, the individual tax burden could be lower across the board.
OMG! Do your research BEFORE you post. Under this plan the poor DO NOT pay taxes!
So does this repeal my property taxes, my being taxed for a license to operate a motor vehicle, and the taxation I endure to license a car? The bill is absurdly long! I don’t care to read it all to find out.
I thought the poor were taxed and then handed a refund every month. That’s not the same as not taxing them. Many of the poor don’t have proper budgeting skills (or maybe money to budget) to make it even out, before the plan would wreck their finances.
Those taxes are all State or Local taxes. This is about Federal taxes.
The poor are already taxed from their paychecks for the same amount as under this plan, and then they get a refund. Most implementations of the Fair Tax utilize a prebate system, so they would get extra money before they were ever taxed. Either way, they end up with more of their own money under the Fair Tax than under income taxes.
I agree this “Fair Tax” idea is rather poor. It may be better than our current tax code, but I’m starting to think a hammer to the head might land in that category too.
If we just got rid of personal income taxes (replacing them with leaving the money in your pocket), government spending would only have to go down to the level it was in the 90’s. The more pressing problem is getting the government to MASSIVELY cut spending and not how to best extract half our GPD from the people. I’m in favor of H.J.Res.48 from Ron Paul, which ends the personal income tax, among several other things.
If the argument here is that people don’t want to give up 30-40% of their income and just have it all to themselves, then those people don’t belong in any society. In a society we all work for common interests. The money you make was given to you by society. And if you want to keep it all that makes you an asshole, because we all have to give back to the society to keep it at some sort of equilibrium. I’m not talking about communism where there’s theoretically no rich and no poor. I’m talking about some kind of balance. If you make 100k per year then it’s your job in life to help out those who only know how to make 20k per year. If you don’t then there’s going to be a whole lot more people who are homeless and poor. And I know how everyone treats the homeless and the poor. So stop complaining about how much of your money THEY are taking from you because you are paying for peace of mind and a better society. I don’t subscribe to any religious theory, but for all the people in this country that do you sure don’t seem to practice any of your religion’s beliefs about helping out your fellow man.
Haha wow. No. The money I made was earned by me putting in time towards my job. I want to keep it because I worked for it. I don’t want to give up 30-40% of it to the government so they can pad their own checks or spend it in some other worthless place. Poor spending aside, I’d rather consciously make the choice while spending money to pay taxes rather than have them take away my theoretical money before I even get to see it. If I actually knew for certain that my money was going towards a better society and helping my fellow man, you wouldn’t see this post. But it’s not. So you are.
Wow, what childish thinking. So you are saying “taking” is more important than convincing people to “give”. It’s obvious you do not subscribe to any particular belief. If you did then the following sentence would make sense to you.
Not giving is not a sin. But theft is.
You are so eager to take another person’s money and give it away. To add insult you’ll call them a selfish asshole.
Perhaps you should let each decide to give according to their belief rather than deciding how their money will be given for them, sometimes against their beliefs (ie to charities deemed sinful).
Lets skip the communism gag, and just call it authoritarianism which is contrary to liberty. You are either being deceitful in your argument, are you are ignorant.
This is the FAIRest TAX you can impose. If folks (CONGRESS) would get off their duffs and ACTUALLY read it and worry about the economic impacts instead of the re-election impact this would have been done quite a while ago.
This tax takes into consideration those basic necessities for living in America and credits those folks accordingly. IF a person intends on living more lavishly then let them. There will be tax collected for the ADDITIONAL dollars they spend. Those taxes are on your desire to consume rather than your desire to work and or ability to pay. IT IS THE CHOICE OF THE CONSUMER!!!!!
Why is it that if a person works or is fortunate enough to work they are penalized with paying for those that are not capable or unwilling. If I am not working, I cut back on discretionary spending. My taxes would go down with this Bill. FINALLY I will be in control of how much I am taxed by how much I CHOSE to participate in discretionary purchases and the economy. Additionally, tourists, drug runners, mafia, etc will all now be TAXED and have NO POSSIBLE way of tax evasion. MORE revenue to the Government. NO MORE LOOPHOLES would exist so that accountants can do what they do best, which is help a business grow and become profitable through fiscally sound accounting practices INSTEAD of creative TAX EVASION strategies now employed in most every Company. Large or small. This would also reduce unemployment because of the impact to a business to pay more taxes when creating a job would be gone. The tax revenue is gained by INCREASING the employees’ ability to CHOOSE to increase their discretionary spending.
Finally, America can become the LAND OF THE FREE once again.
Get on this BILL and get it passed. If will call it a dire emergency and the government and economy will fail if we don’t, then can we get it attention and get passed? What is we call it a STIMULUS Bill? Which it is 100% accurate unlike HR1 and SB1 passed this month (What a JOKE).
I agree I should help my fellow man where and when. However, that is MY CHOICE not the dipstick governments.
For consideration to exemplify my point. In the fall we passed an $850B Financial Bailout. This was because, “NO OVERSIGHT CAUSED THE PROBLEM”. Today we find out that they (the same government that claimed they needed this bailout) DID NOT INCLUDE OVERSIGHT.
I continue to help my fellow poor on my own dime AND continue to have 40-50% of my wages garnished by the government for the same. What happens when decide it is time for Government to do the same for us?
Socialism is the best for government until they GOVERNMENT RUNS OUT OF MONEY. You make a bill you pay it. Otherwise, don’t make it.
That is from my Autoworker Father in a staunch Democratic upbringing. Let your God sort out how much you help you fellow man not this dipstick Government, who actually could give two bits whether they get helped or not.
Did anyone begin to think that this is just taking more and more from the poor of the United States? The Federal income tax is one of the few leveraging institutions left in our country, and this seeks to get rid of that by replacing that income by increasing sales tax, which is a tax that while it does generate money, only serves to keep the poor even more impoverished. Think about it, sales tax is a relatively small part of any bill though when one is below the poverty line, every penny counts. This bill appears to be underneath it all helping to increase the divide between rich and poor, which in a country where the only serious economic growth over the past couple of years has been among the hyper rich, this hardly seems to be the right course of action.
Please re-read the bill. This bill prebates any taxes that may be spent by the poor.
“freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity”, huh? Why do we have to spend our existence being so obsessed about money?
Because regardless of society, it predicates the potential for our offspring to succeed.
Have more children. It’ll answer more of the why questions in your life.
Great! But what if Americans all of sudden start saving their money instead of spending it?
Federal Government cuts back on services.
There are better options than this plan. I am happy to see ideas being forwarded. Of course, the current system is horrible but this is not the solution I would like to see.
I would like to see the income tax removed and the gap made up by removing some of the “Free Trade” legislation (which benefits corporations) and putting sensible tariffs back in place (which indirectly benefit workers) Most of the US income was generated by taxes of these types before the income tax was implemented.
Tariffs and the like are an outdated means of income generation by our federal government. While we may like the idea of becoming more isolationist, we need to be progressive in making jobs and corporations create jobs in America and less regressive.
I have read all the post here so far and the general theme for people against this bill have a huge flaw in that they keep bringing up how it will hurt the poor. Under the bill the poor pay no taxes because they get a check each month. This puts their taxes at zero and money in the pockets each month. The bigger part in regard to the poor people is that there will be less of them because this bill brings jobs and money back from overseas and will create huge opportunities and gives people that right now, because of taxes, are barely getting by more money each paycheck. This bill will generate billions of dollars from tourists and the black market economy that currently don’t contribute to the government coffers. Another point brought up was how it would affect charities. With more work and wealth available less people will need charities. People will be able to depend on themselves more and be able to help those around them because they will have more. If you look at donations to charities, when taxes in this country were the lowest, donations were the highest. We are a great nation full of caring, giving people. This bill will allow us to do more and create more for ourselves and each other.
That’s the most cogent explanation I’ve yet heard. Whoever wrote this – thanks. People take a cursory look at something and make up their minds, thinking they have the whole picture. I have several liberal friends here in CA who I love dearly, but they demonstrate that tendency over and over.
For those who think this hurts the poor – please read the bill. Then read it again. Then ask questions if there are sections that are confusing. I’m still in the “ask questions” phase, but really – you have to read the entire thing before you can pass judgment.
Charities will be affected, as people move toward a cash society instead of a Credit one, they will save, and feel more obligation to share in their wealth.
Thus after a small decrease in giving, there will be a increase in all giving.
I agree. But I also believe, if you study the statistics, you’ll find it’s the fiscal conservatives who tend to give to charities more than the liberal left, as a generality. Don’t flame me for that – I know it’s a statistic, and a generality. But by and large, I believe it’s probably true.
Plus, how much nicer would it be if there were more people with jobs who could contribute to causes such as AIDS research and a cure for diabetes or cancer or help for foster kids or whatever your favorite charity might be. More jobs = more people working = economic recovery.
Okay, I like this bill a lot and God knows, I want to take home my entire check. A question that comes to mind is how does this affect businesses? I know the current tax setup seems to take a lot out of businesses so how would this change? Would it simply be cut and dry that businesses pay no taxes outside of operating costs and so forth? I promise you guys, I’m a Republican that’s a bit out of date with how and why we are where we are in today’s economy. I really would like to understand.
Businesses under the current fair tax proposal would pay taxes in the same manner as any other citizen, sales tax. I haven’t fully read the text, so they may be text exempt when purchasing an item to stock for sale for instance, but not exempt if the item is purchased for business use.
Seriously, people…what do you think this will solve. You get rid of the IRS and not pay income taxes anymore. So, instead we pay our taxes every time we got to the grocery or department store. That means the more you buy the more taxes you pay. Think about it. Does this really sound fair? Anyway, Republicans will just start complaining that they pay too much in sales tax. The money has to come from some where. If you make more money than I do, most certainly you should pay more taxes than I do!
If you do the math (or just read the math given to you by MIT on fairtax.org) if you spend your entire check on taxable goods you would be spending approximately the same amount in tax versus the current system of taxation, the difference being that you get to decide if it’s spent or not before hand.
Also, those that make more money than you will most generally purchase more items than you, in essence causing them to pay more taxes than you.
Sheesh, not to mention the fact that it’s the Republicans who are sponsoring the bill. If you like to eat, say, bread… think about the farmer who grew the wheat. Did you know that if that farmer leaves his farm to his family in his will, because of the current tax structure the family will most likely have to sell their inheritance to pay the stinking inheritance TAX?
Think beyond your own reality. Think about America as a whole. And think beyond your party’s rhetoric, if you can.
Bad news. Now, we’ll be taxed on our spending habits instead of actual income; and we all know how Americans love to live outside of their means. I don’t like the sound of this, people need to try to read between the lines. Or maybe just read all of the lines!