kutulu

Does it really matter? Either way we'll pay about the same amount for it. Right now we have the illusion of it costing more rather than the illusion of it costing less, but after VAT taxes it ends up costing the same amount.

And really, won't businesses still be paying a lot of those taxes still if a VAT system goes into place? Sure, we could exempt them from paying taxes on vehicles, equipment, and some things but the more we exempt the more costs get absobed as profits rather than lower costs and therefore higher rates are passed on to the consumer. There is also a huge potential for abuse there.

Before we even talk about revising the method of collecting taxes we need to figure out how much money the government needs to collect via taxes. We cannot keep piling on debt. It's not fair to the future generations. If we shift to a different system we need to know without a doubt what those rates will be and that those rates will provide the govt with sufficient income.

Also, what about the people making $10M/yr but only spend a couple million on taxable goods? Their tax rates go way down. That lost money gets passed to the middle class.