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To: Step1 who wrote (51163)	6/21/2004 9:31:19 AM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

>>>it is easier to avoid taxes on consumer items than income tax deducted at source<<< Not at all. Cash payments, and informal barter, between individuals for services easily escape income taxes. New merchandise, however, has to be provided through licensed manufacturers and licensed distributors that are quite visible to tax authorities. There is a huge amount of economic activity in the United States that escapes income tax collection: house cleaning, carpentry, painting, lawn care, nursing, babysitting, and even some plumbing and electrical work. Artists swap paintings for dental work. Go to any department store in Europe to see VAT being collected. It is probably easier in the United States to escape sales tax on Internet purchases than it is to escape the VAT tax. I don't say that VAT is uniformly collected, but there are no more loopholes than there are for U. S. income taxes.

To: Step1 who wrote (51163)	6/22/2004 3:17:51 PM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

>>>The problem with VAT is that it usually creates a huge black market <<< I went back to check and see if I had overlooked something sensible in your messages, and decided I had not when I read this. The VAT has been in effect in Europe and England for many years and there is no "huge black market". It is hard to carry on a reasonable discourse when the other party invents his own facts. I think a VAT tax on outsized SUVs, yachts, and indeed overpriced item would be a wonderfully progressive way to help finance government, instead of taxing income. It would also mean that the person driving a $50,000 BMW would demonstrate even greater superiority to other people by having paid an additional $10,000 in taxes, proving his excellence to those of us who drive cars costing 75% less.