FairTax

Come and dream with me for a minute.

April 15^th has come and passed and I didn’t file a tax return this year.The Fair Tax legislation has passed and the IRS and the 16^th amendment to the US Constitution that imposes income tax deductions on employees and employers has been abolished for about a year now. I don’t worry about April 15^th anymore. Filing tax returns and worrying about the IRS is a relic of the past. My life has changed since the FairTax legislation was enacted.

The first things that I noticed about the Fair Tax plan were the cash register receipts. The prices of products dropped about 20-25%, but there was a national sales tax listed along with the state and local sales taxes. We are still paying the same thing we always have, but now it includes the new national sales tax. With the old tax plan the cost of employment taxes were hidden in the cost of the product, the Fair Tax brings it out into the open.

The cereal that we had been purchasing at the grocery store dropped from $3.49 per box to $2.69. We still pay about $3.49, but it’s broken down into separate parts listing the actual price, national, state and local sales taxes. The Fair Tax simply moved the embedded income taxes in the manufacturing process to the cash register. I actually believe I’m paying less in taxes because I get to choose what I spend my money on.

Another thing I noticed when the Fair Tax was passed was the difference in our paychecks. Instead of all those taxes being taken out of our checks, now I get the entire amount that I am paid. That alone increased my take home pay by over 30%. I think this new tax plan is better than sliced bread!

No more income taxes deductions or deductions for social security or FICA. What my employer says that he will pay me I can now take home. I like it that a persons pay is now only between the employee and the employer. But, another great thing about the Fair Tax, it is the only plan that stabilizes and strengthens Social Security and other programs to ensure they will be around when I get ready to retire.

Our next surprise was our first monthly prebate check. Under the Fair Tax plan every family receives a prebate check based on family size. This monthly check offsets the taxes that a family would pay on basic essential items that they must have, for example food and medicines. With every family receiving this check it makes the system fair because it only taxes what you spend above the basic level, and the more you can spend then the more you are taxed.

It seems that our own paychecks are going a lot farther since the Fair Tax was passed. My wife and I are adding to our retirement plan at a higher than we have ever been able to do under the old tax plan. We don’t have to worry about our savings being taxed when we spend the money and that is making retirement look a lot better than under the old plan.

My wife and I are not special people; this tax plan is working for our neighbors and friends too. Darlene, our next-door neighbor works in a local manufacturing plant making $12.50 per hour. Her weekly take home pay has now increased to $500.00. Since she isn’t married and has one son, she gets a monthly prebate check for $262.00. With the extra pay and prebate check she can afford to pay off her house early if that is what she wants to do.

John, a friend of mine makes $32,000 per year at the local auto parts store. He would take home approximately $430.00 per week, but now takes home $615.00 per week. John has three children; his prebate check each month is $591.00. Now is weekly income is approximately $765 per week and has allowed his wife to stay home and take care of the children.

Our own grandson, Ricky is enjoying a weekly pay increase of approximately $125.00 per week and he is taking that money and investing it into his college fund. The nice thing about that money is that the earnings will never be taxed so there will be more for him to use.

My employer is also benefiting from the Fair Tax plan. Now, he is adding more employees, a nicer benefit package and increasing hours. Under the new tax plan he doesn’t have to worry about making deductions for employment taxes and he saved lots of money when he got rid of the overpaid tax accountants and lawyers to keep him in compliance with the IRS. He’s even talking about expanding.

It’s amazing to see the differences in our community. People are happier, their saving money like never before, buying homes and fixing up their houses. Banks are lending money to local business for expansion and developing new products. Everyday we hear about a new business or company coming to town. We’re getting new shopping centers and people are going back to work. It’s nice to go into the local stores and see American made products again!

Even our old textile plant has new owners. That place hasn’t run in years because it was more profitable to make the items overseas and then ship them back to this country. Our local big truck manufacturing plant has closed its operation in Mexico because they say it’s more profitable to operate here. Imagine that! Our furniture manufacturing plant is now running three shifts per week and their exports have increased dramatically. Now American made automobiles are being sold in record numbers overseas, and it’s because the Fair Tax has removed the corporate tax burden and that allows our products to compete internationally and at home.

Other countries and foreign banks have seen the potential of this new economy created by the Fair Tax plan and are wanting to invest in the future of America. Banks are getting money to lend and it’s making the dollar worth a dollar again. The FairTax plan has stimulated the economy by promoting both saving and spending. With more money being spent, the government collects more taxes, and that is funding the rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and funding other projects that would have been impossible under the old tax plan.  They are even talking about lowering the FairTax rate!

The one thing that impresses me about this Fair Tax plan is that it makes everything simple and fair! Joe that has cut my grass for years always insisted on being paid “under the table.” Now he gets the same amount for cutting my grass, but when he spends it, he’s taxed just like I am. The same holds true for people that chop wood; cut hair on the side, the babysitter, the drug dealers, money launderers, illegal aliens and those 4 out of 10 people that evaded paying taxes for so many years. The Fair Tax makes everyone pay his or her fair share.

I think it is also satisfying to know that people that can afford better things in life are paying more to keep our government operating. My next-door neighbor in his expensive Lexus paid more because he could afford more even though the car’s price is no higher than it was before. When Tom Cruise bought his new mansion in the California desert he paid a proportionate share to help keep our government operating. And even when my best friend, Bill, bought his new bass boat he paid his part with the national sales tax.

I also think it’s ironic how the Fair Tax has changed politics. Since we took tax collections out of the hands of politicians, the politicians can’t manipulate the tax code and this has made lobbyists a thing of the past. Now, we don’t have career politicians or outrageous political campaigns being financed by special interest groups. And, with people finally realizing how big our government really is, people are starting to get involved in politics.

This new Fair Tax plan has given America a new future!

I realize that this is only a dream, but it’s a dream that is quickly becoming reality with your knowledge of how it works and your grassroots support. The FairTax is not perfect, but it’s a far sight better than what we’ve had for so many years. The American people have always been the ones to upset the apple cart, because are a country that has thrived and flourished with invention and trying new things, we’re a nation that celebrates in changing the status quo and being first. We were the first on the moon, and we’ll be the first country wise enough to change our tax system from an antiquated income tax method to a retail sales tax.