In today’s Boston Globe: What’s Foul About the FairTax, by Bruce Bartlett:
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s rise to the top tier of Republican presidential candidates is one of the major stories of this election cycle. Although his strong support among evangelical Christians is a factor in his rise, Huckabee has also benefited from the backing of a small but intense group of people favoring abolition of the federal tax system and its replacement by a 23% national retail sales tax known as the FairTax.
The states would be required to collect this new tax, thus allowing for abolition of the IRS. To prevent poor and middle-class people from being overly burdened, Americans would be sent monthly checks as a partial rebate of the tax.
Unfortunately, like all things in life that are too good to be true, so is this one. Here are a few problems with the FairTax.
- True rate. …
- Governments must also pay. …
- Rebate problems. …
- Prices will rise. …
The FairTax is unworkable. It is a fantasy to think otherwise.
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Bartlett Slams FairTax in WSJ (8/27/07)
- Response to Bartlett’s Criticism of the FairTax (9/27/07)
