When the federal income tax code was instituted in 1913, it was only 27 pages. Now, it has over 10,000,000 words. It initially applied to only the highest earners but now reaches into all working people’s pockets.
There is no question that our federal tax code has grown out of control. According to an estimate by the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) National Taxpayer Advocate, Americans spend between $67 billion and $450 billion annually trying to comply with this unwieldy tax code.
I want to either abolish or completely restructure the IRS and replace our complicated federal income tax system with a flat national sales tax. I’m an original cosponsor of a bill that does this: the FAIRtax Act.
I believe that the FAIRtax would get rid of loopholes and let Oklahomans keep more of their hard-earned money.
Instead of a tax code that sends job overseas and punishes our companies that export, the FAIRtax will bring jobs back to the U.S. and grow our economy at a much more rapid rate.
The FAIRtax will stop the federal government from collecting income tax and all individuals will no longer have to file tax returns. The federal government will generate tax revenue through a national sales tax on retail goods and services. Businesses would collect the tax at the point of sale. The FAIRtax will be collected by the states and remitted to the federal government. There would be no such things as tax brackets or deductions.
Years ago, people who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and worked hard every day could be successful. Today, the federal government has made it nearly impossible for an honest person who does an honest day’s work to get ahead.
Today, our income tax system hides the true cost of our government. The FAIRtax places the cost of our government on the receipt of all of our retail purchases. This gives the American people the knowledge they need to demand fundamental changes in the way Congress spends the peoples’ money.
I’m working every day to get the federal government out of your way. Replacing our present tax system with the FAIRtax will be a huge step toward that goal.
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Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-2) represents Oklahoma's second district, serving since 2013. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee where he sits on three subcommittees: the Subcommittee on Energy and Power; the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade; and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Prior to Congress, he managed the family-owned plumbing business, taking over with $500,000 in debt and turning it into one of the largest service companies in eastern Oklahoma. He graduated from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in 2010.