Git Yer Hands Out of my Pockets!

It's that time of year again, when the air warms and fills with the luscious scents and sounds of spring, when children of all ages delight in frisking in the sun -- and when the IRS looms large over millions of Americans. This winter the tax thugs began their stalking early, threatening extra scrutiny for certain electronic filers, small businesses, and warning all that audits would increase this tax season.

Their menace might be losing some impact, though, what with individuals taking them on in various ways. Vernice Kuglin won her case against the IRS in a jury trial (of course, the thieves are garnishing her wages and still going after her in court), and more former IRS agents have joined Joe Banister in questioning their former employer's tactics, and even its very existence. It's still a tough row to hoe, but it would seem that freedom-minded individuals are finally making inroads with mainstream Americans on the taxation issue.

So imagine my surprise to discover a group advocating what they call a FairTax solution. The web site is draped in red, white, and blue, and trumpets its solution as a fair, voluntary consumption tax, devised after months of "research". I'm dubious of the quality of the organization's research because, as is stated on the site, its purpose was "to find out what the American people wanted in a tax system". Nowhere in my extensive training in research methodology was the focus group presented as an objective research measure, yet that's what the FairTax group did as part of its "research".

Looking over the frequently asked questions on the FairTax site, it appears that the proposed single-rate tax isn't quite as simple as they would like us to believe. Their plan calls for an across-the-board 23% tax on "all new consumer goods and services at the final point of consumption". But then the site says that there will be no taxes on "necessities" (left undefined) -- and that this will be achieved by mailing each household a monthly rebate, the size of which is determined by the household's standing relative to the federal poverty level for that household's size. Now doesn't that sound simple?

The FairTax site doesn't list the geniuses who did the "research" and developed this plan -- it links only to various institutions, including Harvard, MIT, the Cato Institute, and the Heritage Foundation. The only specific pointer on the page goes to a 1997 Cato policy paper. So this "new" plan relies on seven-year-old research?

Now, I'll admit that the prospect of doing away with all federal income taxes -- withholdings, capital gains, death taxes, and more -- is quite tempting. However, I'm highly suspicious of this so-called FairTax plan. Notice that it only abolishes federal taxes -- and only income taxes. Sin taxes, road taxes, and state and local taxes would presumably remain intact under this system. Since the claim is that the tax is "revenue neutral" its first year (it won't take in more or less than the current federal income tax mess), I don't see how its proponents can claim it's better than the present system. The FairTax calls for an intrusive bureaucratic scheme -- those monthly "rebates", remember? -- that will be as subject to gaming as the 1040. It feeds the massive government beast at the same levels, so all it does is distribute the taxation differently.

"Oh, but it's fairer, because those who consume more will pay more taxes," goes their tune. Silly me, I thought that was already the case.

I also have a fundamental objection to the FairTax idea. While blathering on about "fairness" and "workability", the plan as outlined on the web site says absolutely nothing about the fact that taxation is state-sponsored theft. With large bureaucratic systems, whether it's the federal income tax or a so-called fair tax, everyone who plays the game loses. Each individual's money is taken by force; it's used to support policies that many find objectionable; and it pits individual against individual in a sick, pathetic contest to try to get more from "the other guy" than is paid to him.

To make it crystal clear, I have nothing against incremental plans for scaling back taxes -- as long as the ultimate goal is their abolition. The FairTax plan works toward neither of these goals; it simply continues to feed the beast as before, with a politically correct aura of fairness trying to mask the foul stench. When Americans are effectively taxed at about 50% of what they earn, it's especially unconscionable to be touting a "new" plan that results in the same old theft and socialism.

The FairTax web site invites comments from interested individuals. I suggest that all those who, like me, want to abolish taxation entirely, write to them with a brief, clear message: "Git yer hands out of my pockets!" That's the only tax plan I can fully support.

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