Trump’s Tax bill proving Fair Tax concepts

[Jeshua Patrick]

With all the positive news coming out from around the country regarding how companies are responding to the freshly passed tax legislation I can’t help but think about how it is proving the claims made by the Fair Tax about their proposed tax plan and proving its naysayers wrong. For those not familiar, the proposed Fair Tax legislation calls for full repeal of all forms of Federal taxes except for the excise tax, replacement of those taxes with a consumption tax, and repeal of the 16th Amendment within 5 years of the Fair Tax passage. The Fair Tax includes mechanisms to ensure those living at or below poverty level pay no taxes, eliminates double taxation by eliminating taxation on used goods, untaxes education, and incentivizes wealth creation. Naysayers claim that reducing corporate and payroll taxes to 0% will not benefit workers, consumers, or the economy as companies will simply pocket the new found extra money instead of raising wages, creating new jobs, and lowering prices. If the initial corporate reactions to the new tax legislation are any indication of what would happen under the Fair Tax, this argument is being proven wrong. Unfortunately this legislation has been held up in committee for over 15 years by politicians who care more about their personal interests than those of the American people so we have to continue waiting for real, meaningful tax reform. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic as well as any questions you have regarding the Fair Tax if you are unfamiliar with it. Please refrain from bashing this topic on the basis that you feel taxation is theft as that is an unproductive and pointless line of discussion and should be reserved for another thread. I would like for this thread be a meaningful discussion of what real tax reform can or should be.