Last year, 2006, it was estimated that over 50 million foreign tourists visited our country. They spent over $138 billion. Now, that’s no small potatoes and www.FairTax.org explains how we can get a huge chunk of that money to help us pay our federal taxes.
You understand, of course, that the more people there are paying tax on American goods purchased, the less we Americans have to come up with. And if tourists are involved, that’s certainly a great possible Fed “cash cow”.
If the Congress institutes the federal consumption tax, exactly as described in the FairTax book, this is a no brainer. (Available at any good bookstore.)
It would also involve the repealing of: corporate taxes, gift taxes, the estate tax, capital gains taxes, Medicare taxes, the individual income tax in all its forms including the alternative minimum tax, self-employment tax, and Social Security taxes.
All these would go away and be replaced by a simple nation-wide sales tax. In other words, all present federal income taxes would be replaced with a federal consumption tax.
Moreover, the tourists will become directly involved, yet would not know the difference because prices would remain the same. So when a tourist rented a car, purchased a meal, or bought camera film, he’d be adding money to our tax base.
Can you imagine foreigners paying federal taxes on the 138,000 billion they spend here? Can you imagine all the illegal drug money being taxed? Can you imagine all the cash made by illegals being taxed as soon as it reaches a cash register?
And as a result of tourists paying federal sales tax, illegals paying, and the drug money thrown in, the Tax rate would be much lower then the predicted 25% they will start with. The more people paying into it, the less we will have to pay, as is explained in the book. Get a copy, you will be impressed, so impressed — you will ask everyone to read it.
This is an idea ten years in the making. It’s time has come.
Please do your part to help it along. Get a copy of the Fair Tax book, get excited, then spread the word.
I’ve pointed it out before, but it looks like I’ll have to do it again. A national sales tax would hurt the poorest people in the country and effectively give the richest the biggest tax break they’ve had yet.
Those people who cannot afford to save a dime spend all their money on necessities, and would therefore have 100% of their income taxed. Meanwhile, the wealthy spend only a tiny fraction on any goods at all.
No one likes taxes, but let’s see a better plan than this.
Comment by Peregrin — August 23, 2007 @ 12:01 am
By the way, if you really want the “tourists” to pay, you might consider what they do in Costa Rica – you can’t leave the country without paying a “tourist tax.”
Yup, before you can board the plane, you have to stand in a line and pay about $30 to the government as a little “than you for letting me visit your country” tip.
They even check boarding passes against the list of people who pay. The held up the plane I was on and a government employee came down the aisle looking for the passenger who managed to board without paying and we couldn’t leave until he ponied up the money.
I assume it is lucrative enough to pay for the people who have to do this.
But the “UNfair Tax” nope. It would hurt the people least able to afford it.
I like the idea of you being here to post your thoughts.
But please, before just spewing talking points and getting shot down over and over, do your homework.
Make sure what you are posting is true and that you have enough facts to defend your position.
Comment by LuLu — August 24, 2007 @ 7:06 am
Lulu, Peregrin, thanks for the response. The FairTax book goes into giving the poor a ‘prebate’ to cover them.
The rich don’t now pay their “fair share” as you well know.
But if we have tax people when they spend rather than when they earn, I think it would be more beneficial to the economy because it would tie the Fed Govt directly to the economy. Also I’d ask you to support this idea because it gets the real Nazis, the IRS, out of our lives.
Grimgold
Comment by grimgold — August 24, 2007 @ 9:59 am