On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:07:11 -0400, Chuck Harris
wrote:

John Larkin wrote:



Income tax makes no sense. There should be only one tax, on
consumption, and it should be fully visible, as sales taxes are in the
US, not hidden like VAT.

John

Agreed, but the last thing the government would want is for you to be
constantly reminded of how far they have their hand into your pocket.

Imagine that instead of the 5 to 7% that most of us pay in state sales/use
tax that it was, say, 29% I think that might be a bit of a shocker.

Also, taxes on consumption are by nature highly regressive. The poor
by pay a greater proportion of their income to buy consumables (like food,
clothes, transportation and shelter) than do the rich.... I'm not saying
that is necessarily a bad thing... but I think it would cause a revolution.

-Chuck

It's easy to exempt basics, like food and reasonable housing and
low-price clothing, and/or have payments to poor people, like the
earned income credit.

One real advantage of a sales tax is that it will hit Chinese imports
equally with US products. Currently, US manufacturers pay scads of
taxes that importers don't, taxes that export manufacturing jobs.

John