Have you heard about the fair tax proposal?  I was researching it in more depth lately, and I find the concept very interesting. 

Basically, the whole idea is that the fair tax would replace all income and payroll tax and replace it with a federal sales tax of about 21 - 23 percent.  When you first think about that, it sounds very scary.  Tacking on 23% to the purchase of a new car would be horrible.  It definitely has its pros and its cons, but I believe the pros may outweight the cons.  Do I think we’ll ever get rid of income and payroll tax?  Probably not, but I like that the idea is being thrown out there. 

PROS

• It will get rid of the highly complicated income tax codes.  This proposal is all about simplification. 
• People will be taxed on what they CHOOSE to spend, rather than being taxed for working hard.
• The rich will be taxed more, because they obviously spend more than lower income people.
• The proposal has a built-in “prebate” system where you will receive a check in advance based on your household income for to reimburse households for tax on necessity goods and services.
• It is supposed to supplement the current tax system dollar for dollar.  
• It will eliminate tax loop holes that rich people find to evade paying taxes.

CONS

• It could discourage the country to spend, which ultimately hurts the economy. 
• It has not been proven that the fair tax would supplement the current tax system dollar for dollar
• People opposed to the fair tax worry that it will not benefit the poor. 

I encourage you all to check out the website and other materials to educate yourselves about the fair tax.  It seems too easy when you start reading about, but then I started thinking that maybe it seeems too easy because I am so used to the current system.  When I think about keeping all of my paycheck and eliminating the extremely complicated tax codes, I start thinking that this could be a great alternative to the current system.  Many of you will have a lot of questions about this, and they answer many of them in the FAQ section.  Once you start thinking about tax credits, deductions, IRAs, all you have to do is realize that you would not need that stuff, because your incom is NOT being taxed.  My main reason for supporting the fair tax is that it taxes you for choosing to spend.  I think that if people choose to live a lavish lifestyle, then they should pay heavily for it.  It makes no sense that people at the poverty level get income and payroll taxes taken away from them.  It is also a crime that the rich find ways to get out of paying taxes.  So check it out, and let me know what you think.  I’d like to hear your concerns.