A FAIRtax Calculator
David Boone is a long-time FAIRtax supporter who lives in Minnesota.
He, along with other FAIRtax Supporters, has spent a considerable amount of time developing a calculator allowing a Family to estimate the amount of tax they will pay under The FAIRtax.
No calculator can anticipate every situation, but David believes his calculator does a good job with the great majority of income-payroll-tax to FAIRtax comparisons.
This was written by David.
Why A Calculator?
One of the first objections one hears as an advocate for The FAIRtax is it would harm the poor and the middle class. That objection is almost as unthinkingly soft-headed as the assertion “all taxes are theft”. A corollary objection holds The FAIRtax really benefits the rich. So, how do we go about proving or disproving how The FAIRtax actually affects real people?
It would seem to me to be a matter of looking at a series of real-world cases and directly comparing what happens under the income-payroll-tax for a given income and family, and then calculate what the same family would pay under The FAIRtax proposal.
Some say this isn’t practical because one can’t compare an income-tax to a consumption tax (spending). But consider taking a pile of Monopoly money and removing a percentage (withholding in the case of the income-tax), and take another pile and remove tax as the pile is spent - the effect is the same in terms of the effective tax.
In other words, effective tax means what you pay to Uncle Sam divided by your gross income and we therefore end up with a direct apples to apples comparison.
For example, if you earn $50,000 and pay $5,000 in federal income-payroll-tax, your effective tax rate would be $5,000 divided by $50,000 or 10%.
And so, the idea of a comparative calculator began to take shape. Needless to say, trying to navigate all the arcane and nearly infinite rules of the income-tax is a daunting task. By comparison, calculating The FAIRtax was a walk on the beach on a sunny spring day, as the saying goes.
The first attempt at developing a calculator turned into a disaster, when my developer got into a scuffle with half a dozen cops in New Jersey. When I didn’t hear from him for several weeks, I reached out to Jim Bennett, who was active in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office at the time. It was from Jim I learned the sordid details of why my developer had dropped off the face of the earth. Back to square one.
At that point, I put out feelers to the fine vocational school, Western Wisconsin Technical Institute in nearby LaCrosse, WI. I learned of a community outreach program which credited IT students for developing software to meet specific needs for local business people. This turned out to be the breakthrough I needed, and in January of 2017 I made a presentation of the concept to the class. One of my qualifying questions was, “do you like math?”
Two guys volunteered to help, and they could not have been better suited for the task. I guess you could say they were “non-traditional” students in the sense they were in their mid to late 20s. One had done a hitch in the Army. I have since lost track of those guys, pity, because I would like to give them a recommendation for their resumes.
The final product rolled out in the fall of 2017, just in time for "The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act", causing inaccuracies here and there in the income-tax calculations.
As it stands, the calculator is still usable as long as you use line 16 of the 2018 1040 form or line 15 of the 2019 form for the value on the Income-Tax line midway down the page. Leave the little “estimate” box unchecked. FAIRtax invites you to try the calculator for your own situation. The bottom line is for most Americans, the middle class especially, The FAIRtax affords significant savings.
Is the calculator totally accurate for everyone? No, but in the vast majority of cases it does show a real comparison between a family’s tax burden under the present income-payroll-tax and under The FAIRtax.
In coming articles, I will explore some of the nuances uncovered by the hundreds of cases we have examined, many of which remain hidden to even the best-informed FAIRtaxers.
David Boone grew up in a small town in west central Indiana. Attended 1st grade through High School graduation in the same building. Attended Wabash College, the only all male college west of the Alleghenies.Dedicated FAIRtaxer since reading the book in 2005. Now serving on the AFFT Marketing & Communications Committee along with Randy Fischer who is The Chairman. Lifelong student of history, political dabbler and shoe-string bon vivant. personal motto: non illegitimi carborundum
Conclusion
The reason David and his programmers are having such a difficult time comparing the tax paid by a family under the income-tax and The FAIRtax is because “The Ruling Class” wants it to be difficult. They want all of us to think “It's just too difficult to understand".
“The Ruling Class” sees nothing wrong with making Individuals and Businesses pay large amounts of money every year for help trying to calculate what income-taxes are owed. To them the idea all of us should be able to calculate our federal tax liability on the back of a napkin drives them into psychotic fits.
They are convinced, and they are right, if the rest of us ever really understand how they are using the income-payroll-tax system not primarily to fund the government but to establish control over us, there will be a revolt they cannot resist.
As we discussed last week, the way to keep us divided is to keep us confused. Tell us things we know to be false, like the size of the national debt doesn’t matter, and we start to doubt our own common sense knowledge that debt does matter because it has to be repaid. To “The Ruling Class”, debt is apparently money they have gotten from suckers on the false promise it will be repaid.
David has created a glimpse into a future where each of us will be able to predict how much federal tax we will pay this year but also in future years. Not something you can do under the income-payroll-tax. “The Ruling Class” wants us to know they can change the tax rates and reduce or increase the amount of money we get to keep at will.
Over the next weeks David will share more about how to use the calculator. He will also be making information available on The FAIRtax web site.
Isn’t it time the rest of us said to "The Ruling Class", “The only way is to pass The FAIRtax—the only "Fair tax".
Also it's time for Congress to have serious discussions about replacing the FAILED income-payroll-tax-system with The FAIRtax, the only truly "Fair tax"!
The author George Bernard Shaw said these words in a play he wrote, You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”
Isn’t it time for us to ask, “Why not?”
President Trump, “Embrace the FAIRtax, the only Fair Tax the only fair tax and the only real tax reform! Stand up to the Swamp. They will oppose you anyway because they see you as a threat. What have you got to lose?”
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.”
Take Back America Again! Pass The FAIRtax Now!
FAIRtax Online Resources
Americans For Fair Taxation - Home Page
Americans For Fair Taxation - Facebook Page
Americans For Fair Taxation - YouTube Channel (The Chairman's Report is now posted here)
Americans For Fair Taxation - Twitter Page
Americans For Fair Taxation - Chairman's Report Podcast on Spreaker posted Fridays at 6am-ET
Americans For Fair Taxation - Chairman's Report Podcast on Apple
Americans For Fair Taxation - Chairman's Report Podcast on iHeart Radio
Official FAIRtax Logo Store
The FAIRtax Guys - Home Page
The FAIRtax Guys - Facebook Page
The FAIRtax Guys - YouTube Channel
PopVox - The People’s Voice On All Things Legislative
Read Evasion Study Summary
The FAIRtax Guys
Ron Maiellaro & Bob Paxton perform their FAIRtax Power Digital-TV Show & Podcast. When the show streams to Facebook, The FAIRtax Guys plus a few AFFT experts are responding “live” to your comments and questions. A free app is available for iOS and Android.
Digital TV: Tue-8PM-ET Americans For Fair Taxation - Facebook Page
Podcasts: Tue-9PM-ET Posted on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts & iHeart Radio.
Digital TV are available on The FAIRtax Guys
This week's Episode #185 - "Tax Humor Shows The-Income-Tax Isn't Funny"
“The income-tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf” is a famous quote by Will Rogers. Another one is “The only difference between death and taxes is death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets”.
When you consider Will Rogers passed away in 1935 and the income-tax-system was just a little over 20 years old, you can see it didn't take long for people to start complaining about it. Effective humor is based in truth and the truth is, We-The-People don’t like the communist-income-tax!
Do a quick search online and you can find several websites full of jokes about the income-tax. The FAIRtax Guys point out, however, most of these jokes indicate a problem the tax code presents to the American people.
Just consider the above quotes by Will Rogers. Why do people lie on their tax returns? And do those lies result in illegal evasion? Why do people talk about death and taxes in the same sentence?
Yes, the humor about the income-tax is based on serious problems with the tax code. And that’s not funny!
There’s always more in FAIRtax Power Radio such as a reminder of the promotional items available now at Our Store and a review of Jim Bennett’s Grassroots Corner Report.
What Can Each Of Us Do?
Call the local and DC offices of your Representative and 2 Senators. Use the following script:
- I am sure Representative ____ or Senator ____ is in favor of everyone obeying the income tax laws.
- After they assure you 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 10 years.
- Since most will say they don’t believe their boss has seen the study, drop off a copy, email a copy or click Read Evasion Study Summary and copy/paste the link into an email.
- 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 simplifying the income tax will handle the problem.
- Explain, when people evade income taxes, they are also evading the 15.3% payroll/Medicare tax and state income tax. So, it’s unlikely they are going to pay 30-40% when they were paying 0% because they have already decided it’s okay to cheat.
- Say, 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 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 the way to handle evasion without unleashing the IRS audits is The FAIRtax.
- If you meet with your Representative or attend a town hall and ask these questions, you will be even more effective.
American's Big Solution - The FAIRtax Primer America Needs
Hard to believe but there still are people who have not heard of The FAIRtax. For those people, America’s Big Solution provides a starting point in their study of The FAIRtax and is meant for any age.
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 The Florida FAIRtax Educational Association. You can buy an electronic version for only $2.99 for the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes & Noble Nook and Apple iOS. You can purchase a print copy at the same Amazon link above for $9.25.
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Thank you for staying FAIRtax strong!
Yours In Liberty!
Steve Hayes
Chairman, Americans For Fair Taxation