Flat Tax is an income Tax

[wizardwatson]

Flat tax (aka the proposed universal 28% sales tax that is suggested by people like Gravel as a suitable replacement to income tax) is an income tax. Finally I found a place where RP said it. I was railing against the Gravel supporters on this point and they are in denial about it saying that "sales tax" isn't an income tax, and you can avoid it.

Anyway, RP says it on ronpaulaudio.com in the 6-28-7 Korlin Economic Report interview with RP at the end of the interview.

 

[susano]

Flat tax (aka the proposed universal 28% sales tax that is suggested by people like Gravel as a suitable replacement to income tax) is an income tax. Finally I found a place where RP said it. I was railing against the Gravel supporters on this point and they are in denial about it saying that "sales tax" isn't an income tax, and you can avoid it.

Anyway, RP says it on ronpaulaudio.com in the 6-28-7 Korlin Economic Report interview with RP at the end of the interview.

You misheard Ron Paul on this. He was addressing flat tax, i.e., a flat percentage levied against income. Everyone pays 10% (or whatever amount). It's that type of alternative that he is saying is still an income tax. he went on to say that it would be better than what we have now, but that a flat tax or sales taxes are not the real solution - curbing spending is.

The 28% sales tax is NOT an income tax.

 

[Bradley in DC]

Flat tax (aka the proposed universal 28% sales tax that is suggested by people like Gravel as a suitable replacement to income tax) is an income tax. Finally I found a place where RP said it. I was railing against the Gravel supporters on this point and they are in denial about it saying that "sales tax" isn't an income tax, and you can avoid it.

Anyway, RP says it on ronpaulaudio.com in the 6-28-7 Korlin Economic Report interview with RP at the end of the interview.

You're confusing some terms. The "flat tax" is usually associated with a flat income tax: economist proposals/testimony to Congress, the Forbes Flat Tax Plan, Dick Armey had one before that. The FICA and other taxes are flat income taxes.

 

[mikelovesgod]

It's not an income tax whatsoever. It would make large purchases more difficult intellectually, although you wouldn't have to pay income taxes to begin with.

 

[LastoftheMohicans]

"It should be carefully noted that the general sales tax is a conspicuous
example of failure to tax consumption. It is commonly supposed that a sales
tax penalizes consumption rather than income or capital. But we find that the
sales tax reduces, not just consumption, but the incomes of original factors. The
general sales tax is an income tax, albeit a rather haphazard one, since there
is no way that its impact on income classes can be made uniform. Many “rightwing”
economists have advocated general sales taxation, as opposed to income
taxation, on the ground that the former taxes consumption but not savingsinvestment;
many “left-wing” economists have opposed sales taxation for the
same reason. Both are mistaken; the sales tax is an income tax, though of more
haphazard and uncertain incidence. The major effect of the general sales tax
will be that of the income tax” to reduce the consumption and the
savings-investment of the taxpayers.15 In fact, since, as we shall see, the
income tax by its nature falls more [p. 93] heavily on savings-investment than
on consumption, we reach the paradoxical and important conclusion that a tax
on consumption will also fall more heavily on savings-investment, in its
ultimate incidence"

Power and Market, Murray N. Rothbard

 

[Delivered4000]

28% is waaaay too high

 

[angrydragon]

Any tax above 0% is too high.