Taxing Spending: The Case For a National Consumption Tax

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  Jim Reese said on June 30, 2012 at 6:43 p.m.
  The value added tax (VAT) is just another hidden tax. In other words, it is hidden in the price of the item bought. The Fair Tax already has been introduced in the House (H.R.#25) and the Senate (S.#13). It has about 80 co-sponsors....and it eliminates the threat of having both the income tax and the sales tax. The legislation requires the repeal of the 16th amendment which authorizes the income tax. It is unfortunate that your article did not address the fair tax issue...fairly. Surely jobs could come flooding back into this country if we had no income tax...the recession would be a memory.
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  Morris Woods said on June 28, 2012 at 11:50 a.m.
  I am rather disappointed that the cost of collection was not addressed. I too wish you would have discussed the fairtax. While implementation would be difficult and complex, the results would be superior judged by the cost of collection. The IRS which is neither efficient nor effective could be eliminated. The only advantage to the Vat tax is that by conforming to what our trading partners use could be easier to not be discriminated against, but having the largest consumer market in the world could be achieved by leadership.