Why the FAIRtax Is More Ethical Than the Present Income/Payroll Tax System
Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with questions of right and wrong conduct, moral duty, justice, fairness, and the principles that should guide human behavior.
Ethics asks: What should we do, and why is it right to do it?
Ethics focuses on moral standards, not just government rules. It is the study and application of moral principles that determine what is right, fair, just, honest, and responsible in human conduct.
So, what would an “ethical” tax system look like? It would be a tax system that is more consistent with ethical principles such as fairness, honesty, transparency, equal treatment, respect for privacy, limited coercion, and protection of human dignity.
The current income/payroll tax system requires every American to report the details of his or her earnings, deductions, investments, business expenses, family status, and financial life to the federal government every year. This is some of the most sensitive and private data we have. Under an ethical tax system, that’s none of the government’s business.
Enforcement requires government inspection, forced disclosure, and the presumption that citizens must prove they have paid enough. A tax system that requires constant surveillance of private income is inherently disrespectful of personal liberty. That’s not ethical.
The FAIRtax takes a different approach. It taxes consumption, not productivity.
Under the FAIRtax, Americans would no longer be punished for working, saving, investing, building a business, earning overtime, or improving their financial position.
People would only be taxed when they choose to purchase new goods and retail services for final consumption. The FAIRtax does not penalize the creation of wealth.
Almost everyone agrees that work and savings are socially beneficial activities; taxing them discourages the very conduct that strengthens families and the economy.
The FAIRtax is also more transparent. Under the income/payroll tax, much of the tax burden is hidden inside payroll withholding, corporate taxes, compliance costs, and embedded taxes in prices.
Many Americans never see the full cost of the federal tax system. The FAIRtax would make the tax visible at the cash register. Voters would know exactly what the federal government costs them.
Transparency is an ethical virtue because democratic consent is meaningful only when citizens can see the burden being imposed.
The present income tax also gives Washington enormous power to reward favored groups and punish disfavored ones through deductions, credits, exemptions, phaseouts, audits, and special rules.
The present income/payroll tax system guarantees lobbying, manipulation, and political favoritism. The FAIRtax would greatly reduce that power by applying one broad national retail sales tax with a universal prebate to protect basic consumption.
The FAIRtax would be a simpler, broader tax system that would be less vulnerable to corruption and special-interest engineering.
CONCLUSION
Almost all Americans agree that a government should raise the revenue it needs in the least coercive, least invasive, and most transparent manner possible. By that ethical standard, the FAIRtax is far superior to the present income/payroll tax system.
The FAIRtax is more ethical than the present federal income tax system because it treats citizens as free individuals rather than as financial subjects of the government.
The FAIRtax Act (H.R. 25) is more than just a proposal for a retail sales tax; it is a fundamental restructuring of the federal fiscal structure. Unlike other excise taxes which normally are applied to specific products and in different percentage amounts, the FAIRtax applies a 23% inclusive rate to all new retail products and retail services.
The FAIRtax better protects privacy and human dignity. It will allow Americans to live without filing annual income tax returns or fearing intrusive audits of their personal finances.
THE FAIRTAX IS THE ANSWER.
The FAIRtax is a national retail sales tax on new retail goods and retail services which provides a family credit so that all purchases up to the poverty level for each family are not taxed. There is no withholding from your paycheck, and YOU NEVER HAVE TO FILE A TAX RETURN TELLING THE GOVERNMENT HOW MUCH YOU EARNED AND HOW MUCH YOU SPENT, AND YOU’LL NEVER BE HARASSED BY THE IRS EVER AGAIN.
Many of you have labored tirelessly for freedom from the federal income tax and the IRS. You deserve a great deal of credit for your efforts to educate the American people on the need to fund the American government in a way that is good for America and returns freedom to the American people.
It is imperative, though, that we don’t replace the current income tax and the IRS with an alternative system that can still be manipulated by the Ruling Elite. We must let Congress and the President know that the best way to replace the income tax and the IRS is with the FAIRtax.
Make no mistake about it. The FAIRtax is a grave threat to the Ruling Elites. It will strip them of their power and their ability to control us though the tax system. Their opposition to the FAIRtax will be fierce and unrelenting. And don’t think for an instant that they won’t use half-truths, deception and downright lies in their desperate attempt to hang on to their power.
However, with the support of this President, we can finally eliminate the income tax and the IRS!!!
Of course, the best course of action is to not only repeal the income tax and abolish the IRS but to repeal the 16th Amendment as well so no future administration can ever shackle the American people with an income tax again.
We must come together and ensure that real tax reform, the FAIRtax, is not subverted by the Elites in D.C.
This will take the diligent efforts of all of us. We need your financial assistance, and we need your grass roots assistance.
If you have contacts that will allow us to get more information to President Trump about the FAIRtax please let us know.
Please email us at info@FAIRtax.org and we will give you some options on how you can best help us.
At a minimum, please call your Congressional representative and ask if he or she supports the FAIRtax. If so, thank him/her for their support and suggest they become a cosponsor of HR-25 if they’re not one already. If not, ask why not. If your representative claims to be unfamiliar with the FAIRtax, offer to have someone come to their office and explain it to them.
Please go to this link to invest in AFFT and help us pass the FAIRtax. It’s an investment in your and your family’s future.
THE SOLUTION—PASS THE FAIRTAX!
Why would D.C. pass the FAIRtax and give up this almost unlimited source of donations? The only way that they will is if the rest of us demand it!
Isn’t it time to end this ludicrous tax collection system and the IRS?
HELP BRING ABOUT REAL TAX REFORM AND STOP FUTURE IRS ABUSES
By contributing (investing) $10.40 per month, you help provide a financial base to AFFT. If you can make larger contributions (investments), these will be used not for salaries, as we are all volunteers, but for the needed updates to our economic studies which will be vital for all future years.
Please go to this link to invest in AFFT and help us pass the FAIRtax. It’s an investment in your and your family’s future.