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Alternative to Our Current Tax Code

By Nathan Tabor

Do you dread filing income taxes every year? Do you spend hours in front of your computer or around the kitchen table trying to make sense of our federal tax code so that you don’t make a mistake. Our national tax system has become so complicated and so burdensome that the costs associated with complying with it are in the billions. It is a system that is beyond repair. It is time to scrap the code and implement a national sales tax.

A national sales tax is a consumption tax that is designed to replace the entire federal tax system. This would include the elimination of the payroll tax, the capital gains tax, the death tax, and even the personal income tax. You would pay taxes when you purchased items much like you do now with state and local sales tax.

Experts estimate that a national sales tax of 23 percent would pay for all government operations, including Social Security, Medicare, and the rest of the federal budget. At first 23 percent might seem excessive to many. However, no one would pay this tax on necessities. Most proposals include a monthly rebate of taxes paid on necessities up to the poverty level. You would also not pay taxes when you buy a house, used car, or items used strictly for business purposes.

The most important aspect of a national sales tax is that you would be able to choose when you pay taxes. Currently the average taxpayer pays 15.3 percent of their income in payroll taxes, and approximately 28 percent in income taxes. Taken together, this is approximately 43 percent of your earnings that are going to taxes. This is in contrast to a 23 percent tax that you would pay only when you purchase an item. If you choose to save money, you would not pay taxes on it.

We have an opportunity to encourage growth and investment with a national sales tax. The elimination of the capital gains and inheritance taxes would benefit small businesses and farms both here in North Carolina and across the nation.

There are several proposals before Congress each year to reform and, in some cases, replace our current tax system. One currently is FairTax HR 25. I believe that reforming the tax system is not enough. Our current tax code (33,000 pages) is so large and so convoluted that reforms won’t fix the problem. The tax code is an unnecessary drag on our economy that has resulted in higher costs and decreased productivity. The solution is clear, if we want to stimulate our economy and encourage savings, we must toss out the current tax code and replace it with a national sales tax.

For more information about Nathan Tabor and his campaign, those interested are encouraged to call (336) 993-0929 or visit www.taborforcongress.com