PA 8720 - “Fair Tax” Policy Analysis
John Maynard Keynes stated that “the avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward,” (Waters, 2011). In Missouri, while seeking to avoid an income tax, advocates for the “Fair Tax” have seemingly presented a proposal that is the antithesis of the pursuit Keynes deems worthy. They are proposing a constitutional amendment that would impose a sales tax that no Missourian could avoid. The “Fair Tax” would cost everyone, no matter their income level and even have its greatest impact on the most vulnerable among us. Even as a tax of this type would expand the tax base, the repercussions to the taxpayers, the state budget, and the state economy would present hurdles too high to
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The initiative petition however, caps the state sales tax at seven percent ("Constitutional amendment to," 2012); leaving no mechanism for recovering such a substantial loss in revenue. James Moody, a former budget director, called the proposal “fiscally untenable,” stating that it would “either bankrupt the state, or in the alternative, bankrupt the poor and working lower and middle income classes.” (Moody, 2011).
This dilemma is furthered when exemptions are taken into account. Just as Irene Rubin noted in The Politics of Public Budgeting (2010), “as the burden on a group increases, the demand for exceptions for that group is likely to increase.” Moody applies this notion to the “Fair Tax” when stating that “the simple math is that exemptions from taxation lower the taxable base,” and that “the more tax exemptions assumed, the lower the tax base, and the higher the tax rate has to be,” (2011). In a Columbia Daily Tribune editorial, Henry Waters stated “the new sales tax would instantly become riddled with exemptions,” and that “for every exemption, the rate must go up,” (2011).
Under the proposal, cities and counties would have the ability to levy an additional sales tax on top of the tax imposed by the state, but the total is not to exceed ten percent. If current local rates stood, those shopping in St. Louis city would need to pay up to 11.275 percent on most purchases, with those in St. Louis County paying up to
While most taxpayers agree that tax reform is necessary for our country the problem they encounter is the difficulty they experience when trying to understand all the political terms used when discussing tax reform. This paper is an attempt to help the taxpayers of our country to better understand the political terminology and gain knowledge about some of the proposals that have been explored.
For this reason, when the state needs more money, it has to raise sales tax or cut department spending. For example, in 1984 the sale tax was 4.25 percent, but only six years later it rose to 6.25 percent. Furthermore, cities, counties, transit authorities, and other taxing agents may levy a sales tax up to an additional 2% combined, for a total maximum sales tax of 8.25 percent (Lavine 11).
Throughout the entire existence of any form of government, there has always been taxes. Most of the time (if not all), people hate taxes. With this being said, the United States has adopted a progressive tax since its very existence. We believe that if our nation is placed under a flat tax system, our economy will operate more effectively. If we incorporate a flat tax system we will be able to ensure fairness among all citizens, eliminate tax loopholes, and allow opportunities for business expansion. With this being said, we will be examining the strengths and weaknesses about the flat tax system and how it has been used into practice.
In the United States, the top one percent received about 20 percent of the overall income for 2016. This creates an uneven distribution of income causing Americans to argue about whether or not the wealthy should pay more in federal income taxes. One side of the argument is that the wealthy make a huge portion of the nation’s income; therefore, they should have higher tax rates. The other side argues that wealthy Americans already pay their fair share of taxes by paying nearly 40 percent and should not be forced to pay more. These arguments both use compelling evidence to make their claims; however, a solution could be reached by increasing the tax rate of the top one percent by only 10 to 20 percent.
People do not enjoy talking about taxes because they are too political, confusing, and depressing. It is no secret that the American tax code is a mess and something many economists describe as too broken to fix. Despite this, politicians have never stopped from trying to “fix” the code, yet they have had very little success. The U.S. Government’s tax code currently comprises “more than 67,000 pages of complexities” (Boortz, Linder, & Woodall 14). The Americans for Fair Taxation (AFFT) was founded in 1995 with one goal: create the simplest and best tax reform plan that would work in the modern market and economy. The AFFT’s best solution was a bill which they promptly called the FairTax.
This was also claimed as a benefit of the Texas Lottery and look what happened to that? It is all well and good to say something will work but until it is in place, would one not know for sure. Unfortunately, the cost of implementing such a personal tax would blow the benefits right out of the water. It would be not be cost effective to propose such a tax, since the start up costs would be prohibitive. Both counties and cities receive huge revenues in their collection of sales tax. To consider cutting that back would be
The current tax code for the United States is almost 74,000 pages long. Or to put that into a different light: About 116 copies of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. It is small wonder that a few of the announced candidates for President of the United States, have again begun to kick the tires on the topic of a Flat Tax. But is a flat tax actually a solution to our country’s growing tax complexity? What are the potential economic effects of a flat tax (both positive and negative)? Finally, is a flat tax even a viable solution? In short, will it work? As a concept, a flat tax is spectacular. Simplicity at its finest. As a fiscal policy, I believe that same simplicity must be examined and inspected closely.
Texas does outperform other states in terms of economic growth and population growth. Many people move to Texas because of the jobs and they do taxes right. (Batheja, 2013) Gov. Rick Perry believes Texas’s performance through the recession is due to lack of income tax. He says “You can stop trying to figure out how to pay the state income tax, because we don’t have one.” (Batheja, 2013) The Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group, ranks Texas ninth-best on its State Business Tax Climate Index, largely because of the state’s lack of an income tax. (Batheja, 2013) On the other hand, Texas’s high property taxes remains a crucial complaint among business and homeowners. It’s harder for small business to pay their taxes especially if their business wasn’t very profitable. Small business end up using their own personal savings, mortgages, or borrow money in order to pay their taxes. Having a state tax would benefit small business. Although having no state tax is accepted by many, it puts a dent on cities and towns. Local debt has increased over the past decade, in large part to cover the costs for new schools and public maintenance projects. (Batheja, 2013) The state is pushing projects such as building of highways and roads to cities and counties. (Batheja, 2013) In 2012, more than 500 lawsuits were from school districts arguing that our public education isn’t properly
In states without state income tax, higher sales, property and other assorted taxes can exceed the annual cost of a state income tax. Texas is one of seven states that do not levy an individual income tax. The Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group, ranks Texas ninth-best on its State Business Tax Climate Index, largely because of the state’s lack of an income tax. On three of the foundation’s other major rankings — property taxes, sales taxes and corporate taxes — Texas ranks in the bottom 20 states. Texas does not have a statewide property tax, but local property taxes remain a crucial complaint among businesses and homeowners. (Terrence, 2002) The main benefit is that states with no income tax become a beacon for growth. They 're better at creating jobs and keeping a core of young, educated workers from moving to other states. The issue is undoubtedly controversial. Public opinion usually swings with the size of one 's paycheck and the role people think governments should play in shaping society. Texas has an above-average sales taxes, and Texas also has higher-than-average effective property tax rates. Cutting the income tax will boost take-home pay for everyone. It 'll make the state more attractive than its neighbors, creating jobs, drawing new businesses, and sparking an influx of talented workers.
Stanton Delaplane once joked about the IRS, saying he heard it had suggested a simplified tax form with only one question: How much money did you make last year? The IRS response was, "Mail it in"." Thank goodness, our taxes haven 't gotten quite that bad. It is true though, that the majority of Americans, most of us included, have to bite the
The governments in any country use various taxation systems to raise funds to fund its national projects. The most common tax system is the income tax whereby the government raises funds from individual’s earnings. However, in the past few years, there has been heated debate about the adverse effects of progressive income tax on productivity and a proposal to replace it with national sales tax (Hodge, 2017). The national sales tax also known as the fair tax is intended to replace the current income tax and the idea is to enable the government to generate income from consumptions as opposed to earnings. This document examines the positives and negatives of the proposed national sales tax on the U.S. economy. The suggestion to impose a tax on consumption rather than consumption aims at encouraging savings and investments to improve productivity and promote economic growth. It is expected to promote fairness in the taxation because individuals will pay according to what they consume and not what they earn.
New Jersey like many other states relies on a tax system to provide many different services to its citizens including schools, roads, public health, and safety. Correspondingly, it has to raise the money required to
Did you know that an astonishing 43.4 percent of the people in America do not pay any income taxes" (McCullagh 1)? This is roughly 65.6 million people that aren't paying taxes and this is putting our economy and country at its breaking point. Our current tax system penalizes those that work and save money. People that pay no taxes still get to enjoy the benefits. The United States needs to look at which tax is fairer to the people and easier to administer by the government. Although some may disagree, the Flat Tax should replace the income tax to simplify and bring fairness to the system, increase income, and create jobs.
Throughout history, taxation on United States citizens has proven to be a necessary component of a growing economy as means of generating revenue for the federal budget. The federal budget funds the many government programs implemented to keep the disabled, elderly, and unemployed from falling bellow the poverty level. Unfortunately, this fund is not always available when catastrophic evens, such as an economic recession, deplete the revenue coming in and create a budget deficit. In order to regenerate money coming in and replace the deficit, the government calls on money gained from taxes. What happens when tax money is already appropriated to other programs? A tax reform. A tax increase has many times been the
The purpose of this report is to determine if the government is acting fairly in its taxation of the American population, and to point out the waste in government spending. In an article published November 1995, an unknown author explained the need for government "revenue" by defending what the revenue supplies for the people. In America we live within a free enterprise society. A free enterprise system is based on the idea of competition is good and that only the most efficient businesses will survive. The free enterprise system works with the idea that the consumer is somewhat knowledgeable about the products they buy. However, in today's modern world the consumer cannot be always be expected to make an informed decision about something. This is where federal laws are put in place to protect the interest of the public. Examples of such laws are regulations covering quality and safety of home