[harrycrat]

Let's hear your opinions...

For me,better to take my blood drop-by-drop,through a sales tax than a killer property tax..

[Mike1306]

It is a sensible idea which they should have followed through with when they first started discussing it a few years ago.

You of course find those that will claim it hurts the poor more which is false.

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[doggiebus]

So would everything we purchase be taxed? Or are there things that are exempt?

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by doggiebus

So would everything we purchase be taxed? Or are there things that are exempt?

Items that are currently tax exempt would stay exempt, certain luxury items could be taxed at a higher rate.

There were different trains of thought on the subject.

[beachmouse]

Except you can't tax the non-exempt goods highly enough to compensate for the loss of property tax revenue, and you end up with 9% sales tax on everything including food like you get in parts of Alabama and Tennessee.

[harrycrat]

My theory is,find the best weapon of your enemy & use it against him...
The most powerful weapon of the socialists in EU is the broad sales tax,known as Value Added Tax ( VAT) ...
They can & do apply it on anything,good,services etc...from 5% to... 25% ...

In countries where the direct taxation collapses,like GR & the Club Med,VAT is the salvator of those regimes...

So,let's learn from the enemy & replace a painful tax,property tax with a painless one ,which u get easily used at...
If applied to almost everything,a VAT type/sales tax can be low,even 1-2%,so as to overcome resistance by the public & still bring huge revenues...
Especially in FL,where the property tax is a killer,a VAT can be The Solution...

Not to mention that in a federal level, a VAT of just 0.5% to everything,without exceptions, might be the Deficit Terminator...

[Col.W.Deering]

Yeah, I'll have to pass on this. I answered no. Lived in Chicago for too many years, to want to go back to having everything taxed. Check out Chicago taxes and see how well its working out for the people who live there. I'd rather pay property tax any day over that crap.
And don't even mention flat rate VAT taxes....you have governments on the verge of bankrupcy who have VAT taxes and lot of good its done them.

[harrycrat]

Well,I understand the anti-tax spirit,I am anti-tax too,I just think of ways to make the exhisting taxation less painful,since lowering taxes is easier said than done...

[Retiredcoach]

Until the real estate bubble burst, property taxes were the most consistent and reliable means for local authorities to maintain a revenue base. Sales taxes are so varied in the amount of revenue generated (even in the best of economic times) that local authorities could never present a sound budget. In Pennsylvania, we have a sales tax, but almost all forms of clothing are tax-exempt. Some of the state's best customers are out-of-state buyers attempting to avoid their state's sales tax.... good for PA businesses, bad for the home state businesses. The increases needed to counterbalance the loss of real estate tax revenues with what it would present Florida businesses - another "stab in the heart" in the very competitive (including internet sales) retail market. Simply stated ..... a very bad idea.

For the person who posted that the poor pay a higher percentage of their incomes to sales taxes than others, could you please post the statistics that support your thoughts?

[harrycrat]

I understand the argument about stability...

As for the hypothesis of poor paying more as a % in sales tax than the rich,it is only logical...

A couple at 40K,pay ,say,10K for purchases,if taxed at 6% they pay 600 in taxes...1.5 % of income
A couple of 400K ,pay,say, 40K for purchases,if taxed at 6%,they pay 2400 in taxes...0.6% of income...