SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: JBTFD who wrote (25063)11/5/2004 10:51:16 AM
From: MulhollandDriveRead Replies (2) of 306849
 
cato.org

Economic Impact of Replacing Federal Income Taxes with a Sales Tax
by Laurence J. Kotlikoff

Laurence J. Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Executive Summary

This study examines the crisis in U.S. saving, its implications for the nation's economic performance, and the contribution our current tax structure has made to the crisis. A computer simulation model is used to evaluate a proposal to raise U.S. saving by replacing all federal personaland corporate income taxes with a national retail sales tax.

The findings are quite dramatic. The shift in tax structures is predicted, in the long run, to raise the stock of U.S. capital by at least 29 percent and potentially by as much as 49 percent and to raise U.S. living standards by at least 7 percent and potentially by as much as 14 percent.

A national sales tax would eliminate many of the distortions of current income taxes. It would do away with the differential tax treatment of corporate and noncorporate businesses, which distorts business decisions; of capital gains and dividends, which affects decisions about retaining earnings; and of investment in equipment, structures, and inventories. A sales tax would also end encouragement of current relative to future consumption, the tax exemption for health insurance premiums, and the work disincentive associated with the progressivity of the present tax structure.

A national sales tax could be made progressive by combining it with a refundable tax credit. Each household could file a form requesting the tax credit and receive a check from the Internal Revenue Service equal to the amount of credit for which the household qualified.
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext