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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Metacomet who wrote (209551)	11/26/2012 3:51:56 PM
From: cosmicforce	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 540882

The accounting for VAT could be done with RFID technology. This is why non-RFID goods would have to be declared or by default, be contraband if newer than say, 3 years- it is fairly easy to track an item and know who held it last and who sold it if it has an RFID. It would behoove us to get an electronic bill so we could show we paid. In my hypothetical, everyone would get a rebate (possibly each month, like credit card billing) for the first $10k as a general living exemption. If a family of four is spending more than $40k per year on purchases, they probably aren't that poor but it seems reasonable to get your money back as you spend it - up to the limit. I totally agree that having to guess at what you owe is utter BS - you shouldn't need an accountant or tax professional.

To: Metacomet who wrote (209551)	11/26/2012 4:58:09 PM
From: Win Smith	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 540882

The appeal of this approach is the simplicity The progressive rate brackets in the current income tax are a minuscule fraction of the complexity in it. It's just not that hard to understand, or compute for that matter. I could support a flat tax, but only if the ( quite regressive) payroll tax was incorporated into it. The income tax is the only tax that has any progressive elements anyway. Almost every other form of taxation is regressive one way or the other. Sales tax, property tax, user fees, gasoline tax, payroll tax - I can't think of any other tax where what the rich pay is equal, as a proportion of either income or wealth, to what people of modest means pay. I agree about the VAT and complexity, though. In terms of fairness, it's hard to distinguish from a sales tax, but it seems quite complex in administration. I don't quite get the point.