VAT tax plan..Latest GOP strike against the poor?

[Comadreja]

So there are thousands of poor working people who pay income taxes all year but get a refund at the end of the tax season. With a VAT tax, there will be no refunds, right? The rich are scarcely affected by taxes on consumer items. As if our heating bill wasn't already exorbitant. WarChimp needs a reliable source of income that can't be dodged, though the rich will always be able to open new loopholes to avoid even a VAT tax.

[dogman]

1. Pre-election speaker Hastert was on local radio claiming

some sort of tax like this or a sales tax would save 256 billion$ a year for the economy. He said the savings would come from the elimination of the IRS. So I guess there will be no collection of this tax, therefore no enforcement, accounting, or administration of this tax will be necessary. Truth is an illegal alien in the GOP.

[SoCalDem]

2. The merchants will be forced to collect, report and forward

the taxes. Their prices will increase to cover the costs, and you just "know" they will figure a way to skim a bit off for themselves..

buh-byee mortgage deduction


and of course since poor people live paycheck to paycheck, they will be taxed on 100% of what they earn , through purchases..

Rich people spend way less than the money they rake in, so their burden will fall, and since like-minded professionals have always bartered "unofficialy", they will be saving lots of money..

one example of the "barter"

a car dealership owner in my home town had a "deal" with the best orthodontist in town..

dentist drove his choice of brand new chevy (corvette)...a dealer tag.. and the car dealer's kids all got fancy braces..

[dogman]

3. Thats' what I see.

Walmart, responsible citizen, paying taxes on the honor system. The burden will be shifted and the workers will be the new colonists. I often wonder if this is why the high-minded GOPers have such admiration for British Tories.

[Ima]

4. vat

If this happens a lot of us will be hurting,I heard 30%.

[SoCalDem]

5. and watch for rents and property taxes to go waaaay up..

With federal incoome tied directly to consumption, when people can no longer afford to buy, the states will be even worse off than now, and the only way they can generate income is to raise the STATE taxes (which will NOT go away) and property taxes..

Landlords will not just "eat" the increase, so poor people who mostly rent, will be soaked twice..

[meow2u3]

13. Watch for a burgeoning black market

on everything you can think of, ranging from food to personal care items--even the drug trade would include otherwise legal drugs.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[papau]

7. 90% of rich income is investments - there is no VAT on investments

that has always been the game for the GOP.

:-(

[Captain Ron]

8. ?????

papua,

Apparently you don't understand. VAT is a sales tax. It is applied to what you spend ... not on what you earn. It doesn't matter whether you earn your money on investments, salary, etc ... you would not be taxed on it.

[papau]

9. It is a transactions tax - and I was in the meetings on the design of the

Canadian version.

You do not understand.

Financial transactions provided added value - or why pay folks to make the transaction.

But they get "zero rated" - meaning no tax - around the globe.

VAT is not sold as a sales tax - although it acts as one.

It is sold as a tax that is easy to collect and reflects economic activity - "value added " - with a side note that it allows for a lower FIT.

BUT ONLY IN THE USA is VAT being sold as a replacement for the IRS - meaning the FIT.

ONLY in the US do we end up with the rich paying near nothing relative to true total income.

ONLY in the US do we pretend the office of tax collection with its auditors and investigations will go away by installing a VAT and ending the FIT.

ONLY in the USA do we pretend that the payroll tax is not part of the federal income taxation system that will go away (SS payroll tax may tax income - albeit wage income only - but it is dedicated to a single expense - so they say - albeit its surplus is used to buy bombs since the tax cuts on the rich means we must borrow from SS and elsewhere to fund the 40% Pentagon budget increase that has no manpower increase - just pays for contracts to corporations -sometimes called corporate welfare for the rich and their corporations)

[SoCalDem]

10. and STATE income taxes will RISE.. Look for more municipality taxes too

There is no FREE RIDE (unless you are already rich:(..)

The shortfall will always be made up by the largest demographic group..

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Captain Ron!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[okieinpain]

11. yeah, well they got warned and they voted for bush any way.