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gar1976 · 02-25-2005, 07:29 PM

The Wall Street Journal, no bastion of liberals that, estimated a national sales tax would need to be around 40-50%, and include capital items (cars, houses, etc.) Vastly different than the yayhoos who throw out 15%, or the congressman who I believe estimated 17%.

I'd believe it would fall around 30-35%, personally.

And most economists agree, having an estate and gift tax helps prevent an unwanted buildup of wealth in a few very wealthy families - these taxes help redistribute wealth back to the rest of society.

And really, under the current tax system poor people don't pay taxes anyways, so the argument that a sales tax would help them out is somewhat moot.

Considering the amount of special interest groups available (eg, what would happen to the charitable deduction? Would mortgage interest still be deductible? Etc.) any overall repeal of an income tax would be improbable at best.

02-25-2005, 07:29 PM	#187 (permalink)
gar1976 Custom User Title Location: Lurking. Under the desk.	The Wall Street Journal, no bastion of liberals that, estimated a national sales tax would need to be around 40-50%, and include capital items (cars, houses, etc.) Vastly different than the yayhoos who throw out 15%, or the congressman who I believe estimated 17%. I'd believe it would fall around 30-35%, personally. And most economists agree, having an estate and gift tax helps prevent an unwanted buildup of wealth in a few very wealthy families - these taxes help redistribute wealth back to the rest of society. And really, under the current tax system poor people don't pay taxes anyways, so the argument that a sales tax would help them out is somewhat moot. Considering the amount of special interest groups available (eg, what would happen to the charitable deduction? Would mortgage interest still be deductible? Etc.) any overall repeal of an income tax would be improbable at best. __________________ Blistex, in regards to crappy games - They made pong look like a story driven RPG with a dynamic campaign.