Fair Tax comes to JAX!! (Jacksonville: sales, houses, buying)

[apanda]

I received this email yesterday and thought I would share for anyone who cares

Dear FairTax supporters,

The FairTax is about to make history in Florida, and you need to be there.

This Sunday, January 27 join thousands of your fellow FairTax supporters for a major "Rock the Boat" rally at the Jacksonville Landing. Our timing is critical: Sunday’s rally is two days before the crucial Florida primary where, the presidential race could not be tighter. Four candidates are in a statistical dead heat. Strong FairTax support will make the difference in the race here, and that could help drive outcome on Super Tuesday the following week.

This issue is important that we hope you'll make every effort to attend, even if you're not local. Because if the candidates know you'll drive 10 hours for a FairTax rally, they know you'll travel five minutes to vote for those who support the FairTax.

Our "Rock the Boat" rally will feature music, entertainment, and FairTax speakers. All of the major candidates have been invited to attend, with Gov. Mike Huckabee already confirming he’ll be there.


Here's what you need to know to sign-up for the "Rock the Boat" Rally now:


[LEFT]Date and time:[/LEFT]
[LEFT]Sunday, January 27th, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.[/LEFT]
[LEFT]Location:[/LEFT]
[LEFT]Jacksonville Landing, (Jacksonville, FL)[/LEFT]
[LEFT]How to attend:[/LEFT]
[LEFT]Reserve your free tickets online now[/LEFT]

Please note, while this event is free to attend, but it's not free to organize. We need your generous financial support to help cover the estimated $4,000 setup costs, so please consider an extra contribution when making your reservation.

As you know, the FairTax has become a major issue in the 2008 race thanks to your support. Our huge rally successes in Columbia, South Carolina and Ames, Iowa last year were absolute game changers, drawing national interest to the FairTax, and helping generate support in Washington, and at the grassroots level.

Sunday's "Rock the Boat" FairTax rally will prove to be the same, and could be decisive in the 2008 presidential race. But we need you there to help make history. Together, we'll bring tax freedom to the Sunshine State, and beyond.

See you in Jacksonville!

Warmest regards,

Ken Hoagland
Communications Director

[riveree]

Thanks for the invite, apanda.

[joninclay]

I'm a HUGE supporter of the Fair Tax. I'd love to see it implemented.

By the way, if this thread should be in another forum, let me know. I don't want to get political if it's not appropriate here.

[vdecapio]

So, what is the FairTax?....a whole add for an event without any explination of what the whole FairTax is?......typical political scenario....lots of hype...no details...no facts. I need to move to a third world country.

[David in JAX]

I'm also a huge supporter of the Fair Tax.

Here is what the Fair Tax does in simple terms:
1. Gets rid of the federal income tax and the IRS.
2. Replaces the income tax with a national sales tax at the final point of sale.
3. Prices do not go up with the addition of the tax because imbedded taxes are already included in the price of items you buy now. Example: a car costing $20,000 now would cost $13,400 with $6,600 in tax for a total cost of $20,000.
4. Gives a monthly graduated "prebate" check to people of certain incomes so they aren't paying taxes on essentials.

[mawipafl]

My take on the FairTax is that it eliminates the federal income tax and replaces it with a 25% sales tax on everything except used cars, existing houses, and a couple of other things. Fixed income people would get some kind of reduction at the cash register .... and just that tells me that there's something not quite right about FairTax if it's not so fair for fixed income folks.

[David in JAX]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

My take on the FairTax is that it eliminates the federal income tax and replaces it with a 25% sales tax on everything except used cars, existing houses, and a couple of other things. Fixed income people would get some kind of reduction at the cash register .... and just that tells me that there's something not quite right about FairTax if it's not so fair for fixed income folks.

The Fair Tax is actually the most fair to fixed income people (unless that fixed income is a very high fixed income). Because of the monthly prebate check, people on fixed incomes pay no federal taxes at all. When you look into the Fair Tax, it's a much better system for people on fixed incomes than what we have today because the current system taxes pensions, most retirement checks, SSI (with other retirement accounts), etc.

[mawipafl]

Thanks David in JAX for taking my post in the proper tone it was meant ... I'm not bashing the FairTax at all. I'm just learning about it and taking in all the factoids and facts and forming an opinion as I go. I think everyone agrees that our current income tax system is whacky, so, even if the FairTax enters a brouhaha, at least there are intelligent people out there trying hard to revamp the system.

[David in JAX]

I was skeptical at first until I actually dug into what the new proposed tax system would do. It’s a real win for everyone except the IRS.

Americans For Fair Taxation:

[joninclay]

Originally Posted by mawipafl

My take on the FairTax is that it eliminates the federal income tax and replaces it with a 25% sales tax on everything except used cars, existing houses, and a couple of other things. Fixed income people would get some kind of reduction at the cash register .... and just that tells me that there's something not quite right about FairTax if it's not so fair for fixed income folks.

It's incredibly fair, as pointed out. If you're on fixed income, you end up getting prebated for buying the necessities of life: food, clothing, meds, etc.

Everything you buy right now has taxes built into the final price. When you buy a $1.00 notebook, approximately $0.23 of the cost is due to taxes related to the production of that notebook: compliance costs, "corporate income taxes", etc.

(Sidebar about the myth of corporations paying taxes here. Corporations don't "pay" taxes...they collect them. Do you think a business is just going to "pay" a tax without passing the cost on to others? "Corporate income taxes" are paid by the consumer (see the $0.23 above), by the shareholders (dividends are smaller, stock price is lower), by the employees ("Sorry, Jane, but we can't give you that raise because of the extra costs the government's imposed on our business!"), etc. The business collects taxes from all of those people.)

Anywho, if the FairTax is implemented, the $0.23 goes away. Therefore, the cost of the notebook is now $0.77. The FairTax rate is 23%, so the new cost of the notebook that you would see at the store is now $0.95 (23% of $0.77 is $0.18). In other words, when you look at the $0.95 price tag on the notebook, the FairTax is already embedded in it...you do NOT pay an extra 23% at the register! The only thing extra you'd pay at the register is the state and local sales tax (e.g. here, it is 7%).

In the end, when you buy your notebook, you'll see on your receipt that your total purchase price was $1.02, and the receipt will break it down for you: $0.77 notebook, $0.18 FairTax, $0.07 sales tax. Without the existence of the FairTax, the sales price would have been $1.07: $1.00 notebook and $0.07 sales tax.

Federal income tax, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax will no longer be withheld from your paycheck. SS and Medicare will be funded from FairTax revenue, and believe you me, the revenue from the FairTax would be substantial:

1. People who currently pay no income or SS/Medicare taxes (such as illegal immigrants, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, gamblers, etc.) will HAVE to buy stuff, and that stuff they buy will have the Fairtax embedded into it. Ergo, these folks will NOW be paying taxes.

2. Businesses will no longer lose hundreds of billions of dollars a year in tax compliance and avoidance costs. They will use that load of cash to expand operations (which means hiring more people, giving raises to existing employees, generating greater dividends to investors, etc.) You'd have to hide under a rock to miss the Prosperity Boat on this one.

3. It is estimated that $12-13 TRILLION (broken link) is currently overseas in Swiss (and other) accounts in order to avoid the oppressive taxes here in America. In other words, American dollars are working for other countries and not for us. With the elimination of the federal income tax (both personal and "business"), those dollars will come home.

4. We will become a tax haven for people in OTHER countries who want to shield THEIR dollars from THEIR oppressive tax regimes in their home countries. The interest off of that money would stay here in America.

The biggest downside for the Fairtax? Lobbyists lose power. Politicians lose power, since one of the biggest ways they buy our votes is by tinkering with the income tax system. The Fairtax is bad news for them, which is why they (of both parties) are fighting it.