When the 112th Congress convenes Jan. 5, 2011, there will be a new tax proposal on the table in the House. House Resolution 25, with the support of five congressmen, will be introduced for legislation. The bill is titled the Fair Tax Act and would abolish the IRS and have a national sales tax for everyone in the United States. Not only have some elder statesmen endorsed the idea, but new members of Congress are also on board, including Georgia's Rob Woodall and Missouri's Billy Long, both Republicans. If enacted, the new law would be the first major overhaul of the tax structure since the creation of an income tax. Steve King of Iowa has a nice video explaining how a "fair tax" would work. Woodall says he has 55 co- sponsors of the bill and 10 fresh faces willing to support the measure.
A national sales tax would be based upon the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States. The higher the GDP, the more sales taxes the United States would collect. It would make the budget of the United States more in line with the current economy. If sales go up, the budget goes up. If sales go down, the federal budget goes down.
Of course, special interests will still want their fair share. Should Congress have a sales tax on everything? One example of a possible exemption would be if a business buys parts from a supplier who in turn sells the finished product upon which sales tax is paid. Automobiles are a perfect example- -should GM pay sales taxes on specialized car parts needed to assemble a car? Should a car dealer pay taxes on the wholesale price of the car before the retail price is paid by the consumer?
You will need exceptions for the poor who shouldn't pay any sales taxes since they can hardly afford the necessities of life. Charitable organizations would also likely be exempt from paying sales taxes. Depending upon who is exempt, taxes on corporations are basically abolished and the consumer-driven economy funds the federal government. The more personal consumers spend, the more money Uncle Sam takes in.
Perhaps a fair tax will be a good thing. If the government wants more money to be spent, then giving incentives to personal consumers to buy things is a good idea. Having a "tax holiday" would be all the stimulus the economy needs, instead of ten million forms of a tax incentive.
Hold everything. What about the 16th Amendment? Perhaps abolishing the IRS and the tax code may not be as easy as the Republicans think. The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states "The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived...." Wouldn't abolishing the IRS mean another constitutional amendment is needed? To reverse Prohibition in the 18th Amendment, the states had to ratify the 21st Amendment nearly 15 years later.
Another thing for lawmakers to consider is that sales taxes can rapidly fluctuate from year to year. If Congress passes the "fair tax" law, it will need to consider a balanced budget amendment to go along with it--deficits can get out of hand if we have lean years.
When ordinary Americans are tired of being taxed for earning money, there has got to be a better way for everyone to pay taxes. To some Americans, it seems the harder we work, the more taxes we owe. No matter what happens, perhaps a national sales tax is an experiment Congress should try this year. Someone needs to try to fix a system which many think is broken.
