Eliminate the IRS...and Replace It with Nothing!
Via Drudge, I learn of something that sounds good, but loses it's luster after further reading.
The Speaker of the House will push for replacing the nation's current tax system with a national sales tax or a value added tax, Hill sources tell DRUDGE."People ask me if I'm really calling for the elimination of the IRS, and I say I think that's a great thing to do for future generations of Americans," Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert explains in his new book, to be released on Wednesday.
I'm no fan of the IRS, but taxation is theft, whether it's in the form of an income tax, tariffs, or "fees".
Quoth Speaker Hastert in his book
"If you own property, stock, or, say, one hundred acres of farmland and tax time is approaching, you don't want to make a mistake, so you’re almost obliged to go to a certified public accountant, tax preparer, or tax attorney to help you file a correct return. That costs a lot of money. Now multiply the amount you have to pay by the total number of people who are in the same boat. You can't. No one can because precise numbers don't exist. But we can stipulate that we're talking about a huge amount. Now consider that a flat tax, national sales tax, or VAT would not only eliminate the need to do this, it could also eliminate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) itself and make the process of paying taxes much easier.""By adopting a VAT, sales tax, or some other alternative, we could begin to change productivity. If you can do that, you can change gross national product and start growing the economy. You could double the economy over the next fifteen years. All of a sudden, the problem of what future generations owe in Social Security and Medicare won’t be so daunting anymore. The answer is to grow the economy, and the key to doing that is making sure we have a tax system that attracts capital and builds incentives to keep it here instead of forcing it out to other nations."
A few points.
- We shouldn't use a system of coerced money to mold the economy (and by extension, individual people) into doing what we want them to do.
- We shouldn't even have the dual injustices of Social Security and socialized medicine hanging over our necks, Mr. Hastert. Abolish them.
- Until he thinks it's wrong to spend other people's money, he's hardly different from the other hordes of parasites in government.
Comments
You're right. But the instant abolition of taxes isn't going to happen.
Given that, it's relevant to think about which forms are better and which forms are worse, if we are to recognize and encourage progress.
I think a sales tax is better (less bad) than an income tax for many reasons, but the main one is that it is less intrusive. It doesn't require people to file tax returns or account to the government every cent of their income and expenses.
It makes the details of our financial lives none of the government's business; which is proper.
Posted by: Gil | August 10, 2004 01:49 AM
Gil, I know with near-certainty that we won't be abolishing all or even most taxes in this country. That doesn't mean I won't advocate for that to happen.
I recognize that some taxes do less harm than others (I came out - somewhat - in favor of a statewide sales tax instead of Texas's current property tax http://www.drizzten.com/blargchives/000635.html ). But there are several problems with progressing towards significantly less taxation:
1. Before anything else can be done, it must be made utterly clear that the tax ought to be "revenue-NEGATIVE" and would therefore demand hard and deep cuts in state spending. This means giving up whole departments and programs within a few years and accepting all the attending problems. And that means convincing the public to go along with it. You, myself, and other libertarian-minded people know those problems would sort themselves out eventually, but they remain the biggest hurdle to any sort of objective progress.
2. If we can successfully argue against those government programs and agencies and convince the public to vote for people who'll abolish them, then why set our sights low? Why not go all the way and chainsaw state spending away until it drops to a fraction of what it is now and by extension, reduce the need for taxes almost completely?
3. We still won't get over the moral question of taxation with a sales tax swap. This is a matter of consistency and integrity that I can't let go. Consequentialist-wise, it may make sense on a large-scale level, but we know taxes distort markets and change the way people conduct business. We'll never be able to accurately predict the damage done through the new system, which will create it's own unique problems.
Just two examples: ...it would be very likely a national sales tax would include federal taxes in Internet sales (because of reluctance to getting past Point #1 and wanting greater revenue)...and you can bet your final copy of Hayek that politicians will attempt to use the sales tax to mold social policy (e.g., taxing tobacco/alcohol/porn/abortion/guns/gas guzzlers/etc. at higher rates than other goods and services) and you know that the compromising nature of our government will let some of them slip through and establish toeholds.
I want to be honest about what I want and am willing to take a few big steps to get there. Perhaps Hastert or someone has a good, simple bill that'll wipe out the IRS and replace it with a single, universal sales tax on all goods and services that doesn't significantly reduce government revenue. In the best-case scenario, that's what would happen. But that is just too radical for most people and their representatives and they'd demand changes, exemptions, etc. Back to where we started, with the same burdensome beast - perhaps not on our backs at work, but standing between us in the marketplace.
I haven't put up a detailed plan of how I'd like the government to draw down and minimize itself. I may do so in the near future.
Posted by: Drizz | August 10, 2004 10:36 AM
The IRS has become the greatest terrorist threat we face! Folks that are working hard face the spectre of having all they have worked for taken by the IRS. They answer to no one--not even the President. It is unlikely they can be eliminated quickly except by means that would get one sent into a jail and the key thrown away! But, we should start by making them accountable to the rules of courts and laws of the country. We should fine and imprison agents and their supervisors who treat people with disdain and willfully seek to destroy them with taxes. We should eliminate all IRS seizure laws. We should force all agents to declare what their true intentions are when doing an audit and no lie to the tax payer. There should be relief available (not the crap they pass for as Tax Payer Advocate) that is toothless--we need an independent agency to fire and imprison those whose purpose is to destroy the tax payer and not get the money.
I believe a sales tax is the only solution. You don't spend, you don't pay! The social security system doesn't work either so why contribute to something that is as byzantine as an medieval castle in trying to figure out your benefits. Stop the Social Security fraud.
I have no hope anyone will do anything about the IRS. Only citizen who begin en masse to refuse to pay are the only thing that will bring it down. It is worse than the KGB and represents the greatest terrorist threat the average citizen.
Dan
Posted by: dan | August 31, 2004 11:38 AM
It is important for all citizens to lay blame where blame lays for this criminal IRS/KGB (from national talk show description) organization. That blame should be placed squarely on your elected vermins (i.e. senators, congressman, and some appointed judges). The IRS/KGB is the Santa Claus for these bottom feeders. The selected vermin continue to persecute the producers, while elevating the non-producing welfare recipients, illegal aliens, and those who just decide to milk the system to God like status. The bottom feeders in Washington DC are happiest when producers are screwed, while giving campaign speeches about how they want to help the poor. Voting in elections only exacerbates this problem. Voting gives these scum the idea that we beleive in them. As long as workers and producers give them the idea you believe in them, the more they will ruin you. They cannot rape an unemployed welfare recipient or illegal alien. Make your choice: Take back America or wallow in the shit they will hand you! "Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have...the course of history shows that as government grows, liberty decreases." Thomas Jefferson
Posted by: Andy | July 22, 2005 05:20 PM