Letter: Get on board the Fair Tax movement

Another company, Johnson Controls, has joined the many U.S. businesses that have moved offshore to limit their tax burden. This company, formed in 1885, had total revenue of $37 million last year with a gross profit of $6.5 million. They are moving their headquarters to Ireland as have Pfizer and several others, eliminating U.S. taxes on a portion of their overall profits.

This is just one example of how our counter-productive, incomprehensible, the ten-million-word tax code is hurting our economy. Everyone agrees (for years) that we need tax reform. Many candidates are recommending simpler flat taxes in one form or another. Our forefathers wisely stated, “There shall be no tax on income,” but all the flat tax proposals are still based on income, relying on individuals and business to correctly report income, requiring a policing agency (IRS) to enforce compliance.

A flat tax does nothing to address the estimated $2.5 billion in unreported income from the underground economy — organized crime, drug dealers, illegals and other tax avoiders.

The obvious answer is to replace income based taxation with taxing consumption (spending). The Fair Tax does just his by eliminating all federal taxation and substituting a National Sales Tax. This also eliminates the IRS that we support to the tune of over $15 billion per year. We (businesses and individuals) pay $400 billion per year complying with our tax code as well as spending 6.1 billion hours in non-productive time.

The Fair Tax Bill, H.R.25 has languished in Congress since 1995. Although at least 80 congressmen and senators sign on as co-sponsors every year, too many others are unwilling to unselfishly give up the power and control that the tax code provides.