TOO BIG TO CRY
When I started to read the final tax bill that was signed by the President, I recalled a statement by Abraham Lincoln when a reporter asked him about the losses his party suffered in the mid-term elections. Lincoln said about the boy who stubbed his toe, "I am too big to cry but it hurts too much to laugh."
All of the things this tax plan attempts to do would all have been accomplished better with the FAIRtax, and the FAIRtax is revenue neutral. Congress and the Swamp of course know that the FAIRtax is their worst nightmare because it eliminates a huge personal income source for them.
By eliminating the personal and corporate income tax and the payroll taxes, the FAIRtax is very transparent and treats everyone fairly. It eliminates the industries that make fortunes, such as the lobbying and tax preparation and tax planning industries, and attempts to do social engineering through the income tax rather than through separate legislation.
This is a tax reform that adds complexity as it twists things around. Take for example the stated purpose of treating owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships and limited liability companies in a manner similar to the way other corporations are taxed--now at 21%.
In an article in Forbes by Kelly Phillips Erb, the complicated formulas and steps needed for the small business owners to take advantage of this "benefit" will likely require the few small business owners who still do their own tax returns to hire a tax preparer.
The new law says that income passing through to the owner or owners will be taxed at the regular rate for the individual less a deduction of up to 20%. In order to do the calculations needed, you have to calculate Qualified Business Income, Qualified Property, if it is a Specified Service Trade or Business and the Threshold Amount.
There are pages of rules for how these defined terms apply to these businesses. In other words, instead of handling all of these problems by simply adopting the FAIRtax, Congress and the Swamp have created a complex set of rules that will create nothing but more problems.
Of course, because of the complexity, this "fix" will also invite more and more money to lobbyists who will be paid to get Congress to fix it in ways that benefit one or other constituency. For example, medical doctors normally operate through pass-through entities and their associations will need to spend money on lobbyists to "clarify" the new rules so that medical doctors benefit the most.
Offer Us A Treat And We Will Shut Up
Congress and the Swamp have been successful in providing all of us outside of D.C. some scraps and we were always grateful. After all, they let us keep some of our money, didn't they? We ignore the fact that they are not changing their reckless spending but are just paying for our crumbs by adding to our national debt.
The new tax plan is not real reform and it doesn't address the mushrooming illegal tax evasion. In fact, by making compliance more difficult, it will make it easier for small business owners to justify their illegally not reporting income and paying the tax they owe to the state and federal governments.
Abraham Lincoln once asked a visitor, "If you call a dog's tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?" The visitor replied, "Five." Lincoln shook his head and said, "Four, because calling a tail a leg doesn't mean it is one."
Calling the tax plan real "tax reform" does not make it so. It is not reform but more of the same--Congress and the Swamp taking care of themselves and ignoring real solutions that benefit us but not them.
The truth is the truth. Remember, if we don't continue to tell the truth and demand a change, then this quote from George Orwell's 1984 may foretell our children's future:
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
WHAT CAN EACH OF US DO
Call up the local or D.C. offices of your House Member and two Senators and you can use the following script:
- I am sure that Representative ____ or Senator ____ is in favor of everyone obeying the income tax laws.
- After they assure you that their boss is not in favor of anyone breaking the law, ask if they are aware of the Cebula study showing $9 trillion of evaded income/payroll taxes over the next ten years.
- Since most will say they don’t believe their boss has seen the study, either drop off a copy or get an email address and send a copy to them for their boss.
- Say you are going to call back in a week and ask what the Representative or Senator is going to do to stop this evasion.
- In a week, call back and ask specifically what the Representative or Senator is going to do to enforce the law.
- They probably will say their boss believes that simplifying the income tax will handle the problem.
- Explain that when people evade income taxes, they are also evading the 15.3% payroll/Medicare tax and state income tax. So it is unlikely that they are going to pay 30% or 40% when they were paying 0% because they have already decided it is okay to cheat.
- Say that the only way to reduce evasion is to increase by tens or hundreds of thousands the number of comprehensive IRS audits done each year.
- Point out that Evaders do not self-identify by putting an “E” on their income tax return.
- 80% of the people likely to be audited are trying to comply, but they will be forced to endure these IRS audits as well.
- Ask if the Member is in favor of this?
- If they say no, then ask again how the Member proposes to stop people breaking the income tax laws.
- Then explain that the way to handle evasion without unleashing the IRS audits is the FAIRtax.
If you can see your Member or attend a town hall and ask these questions, you can be even more effective.
THE PATH FORWARD
FAIRTAX POWER RADIO EPISODE #90
So now that Congress has passed, and the President has signed into law, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017,” I guess the FAIRtax is history! Not so fast!! With the new law, we still have an income tax, the IRS and withholding. Congress still can play class warfare via the tax code and they still allow the IRS to ignore our Bill of Rights. Evasion is still a huge problem and Congressional tinkering with the tax code continues even to this day. Actually very little has changed and we need the FAIRtax more than ever. Listen to The FAIRtax Guys put the meat on the bones of these arguments in favor of the FAIRtax.
Over the Christmas and New Year’s Day holiday, The FAIRtax Guys offered two of their favorite productions, the radio plays of "Would Thomas Jefferson Think We Are Free?" (Dec. 22) and “Thomas Jefferson Returns - Again” (Dec. 29). Listen in as taxpayer George Morgan tries to explain the current income tax to President Jefferson and listen to Jefferson’s response. In Jefferson’s response, you learn just how far we have strayed from the original intent of the Constitution.
But all is not lost. In the sequel, Jefferson returns exactly five years later to find a very different situation because now the FAIRtax is the law of the land and things are very different. But don’t take my word for it, listen to these two episodes of “theater of the mind” at the links below.
HELP THE FAIRTAX GUYS EDUCATE OTHERS ABOUT REAL TAX REFORM. Telling your friends and relatives about our free weekly podcasts is a great way to help us garner more support. It is the American people who must demand REAL tax reform in Congress. We must inform America about the FAIRtax! Please help us.
You can listen to FTPR on any platform - Mac or PC, iPhone or Android. And it’s 100% free.
Listen on Spreaker.com (http://bit.ly/2oesbk7), iTunes (http://apple.co/1Te8VdF) or iHeart Radio (http://bit.ly/2eqEG7y) on your computer or smartphone. The easiest way to listen to FTPR on your smartphone is by downloading the free FTPR app. Just search for “FAIRtax Power Radio” in your app store, download the app and start listening. If you have trouble finding our free app, download the free Spreaker app.
We post a new episode every Friday morning. Please listen and tell everyone you know about the FAIRtax Power Radio.
The FAIRtax: Once You Understand It, You’ll Demand It!
AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION - THE FAIRTAX IN A NUTSHELL
America’s Big Solution is a basic introduction to the FAIRtax and is meant for people of any age. Do you know someone who would like an introduction to the FAIRtax and would prefer to read about it rather than search online for Tweets, Posts and Shares? If so, America’s Big Solution is your choice.
America’s Big Solution is an introduction to the FAIRtax written by Terry Tibbetts, author of A Spartan Game: The Life and Loss of Don Holleder, with help from Ron Maiellaro, President of the Florida FAIRtax Educational Association.
You can buy an electronic version of ABS as follows: AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION is available for only $2.99 for the Amazon Kindle (http://amzn.to/1WIRHry), the Barnes & Noble Nook (http://bit.ly/1XeG8bH) and Apple iOS (http://apple.co/1tnqK0P).
You can purchase a print copy at the same Amazon link above for $9.25. Regardless of whether you choose the electronic format or the print format, you’ll find AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION will give someone the boost they need to begin their study of the FAIRtax and the suggested resources to learn more. Buy AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION now!
LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION
These links will help you promote and support the FAIRtax, make yourself familiar with the links below. We always do our best to keep our AFFT community up to date, and you can stay ahead of the curve using these convenient sites.
- The website of Americans for Fair Taxation (www.fairtax.org)
- Read the Summary of the Evasion Study.
- Welcome to the Online FAIRtax Community (member.fairtax.org)
- The website at which you can help make it happen. (www.bigsolution.org)
- The Facebook page for Americans for Fair Taxation
- The Facebook page for The FAIRtax Guys
- The Twitter page for Americans for Fair Taxation
- PopVox - Connecting people and lawmakers for more effective participation and better governing
- YouTube channel for AFFT
- The Official FAIRtax Logo Store (www.fairtaxlogostore.org)
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