Posted by
Andrews on Thursday, January 10, 2008 8:26:32 AM
I have run across one other silly argument by the FairTax advocates on which I have to comment.
The argument runs as follows:
Income taxation is theft, it is a compulsory tax. Under the FairTax you can choose how much you want to buy and thus can control the amount of tax you want to pay. That makes the FairTax voluntary.
So many mistakes in such a small space. Where to begin?
1. The FairTax is still coercive. No one is volunteering to collect the 23%/30% for the government. If you don't collect it, you get fined or go to jail. That makes it compulsion in my book.
2. Voluntary would mean that I could choose to pay or not pay a tax. It does not mean that I can forgo activities and thus avoid a tax. If that were the case, the income tax is voluntary, as I can choose not to work and avoid it as well. All licensing fees are "voluntary" as well. In fact, by this definition, "voluntary" becomes a wholly meaningless term.
3. Controlling the level of taxation is possible under almost any tax scheme. I can work more or less, get paid more or less, and thus control my income taxation as well. Not sure why this makes the FairTax somehow empowering. People have been gaming tax brackets for decades, it does not mean the income tax is bringing "power to the people".
4. It is somewhat disingenuous to say "you can control your tax level by controlling your purchases. That works only to a point. Very few of us are in a position to be self-sufficient without making any purchases. Nor can all purchases be made on "used" goods. (Ever buy "used food"?) So this is just a smokescreen to try to make the FairTax sound like a libertarian dream, when it is just a dolled-up sales tax which lies about the rate being charged (and don't forget that silly "prebate").
I think that covers just about everything.
And now one announcement: As I am having some minor health problems I may not be writing, or will be writing infrequently, for the next few days. Please don't stop coming back to check on my blog. I will be getting back to writing as soon as possible.