ChrisMerchant's Blog

Chris, people with wealth don't often absorb anything, if they have it their way. That extra tax will be added to the rent, the price of products and of services. There are two ways, that I know of, to get and keep wealth. Steal it off off other people, or be a very special kind of persn. Met a lot of rich folks, not many of them special, not in the least. Inheriting it doesn't change where it came from either. Business people will tell you, to your face, that you are the adversary, and then tell you (as a customer somewhere) what a great deal you are about to get on this new car! Their motto is "grab it before someone else does". You can't leave NUTHIN' lying around!

I assume you are talking about Fair Tax, and yes, it will work, and much better than the current system. The top wage earners in this country are also the top spenders, so they will pay their fair share.

And it will only apply to NEW goods and some services. If you buy a used car today, you pay tax on it, although it was already paid by the previous owner. Under the Fair Tax system, you wouldn't have to pay tax on anything used.

One of the components I like most of all is that people who currently pay no income tax, like drug dealers, people who work under the table and last, but certainly not least, illegal aliens, would contribute their fair share. And don't forget the tourists who flock here year round.

The other thing is that we are already paying a consumption tax on certain goods and services. Do you think Wal Mart pays taxes? No. Their taxes are imbeded in the price of the goods they sell. Landlords already tack on things like property tax and insurance premiums to the rent they charge.

This concept already works here in Florida and Texas, two states who do not have a state income tax, but our state has lots of money in the coffers.

Top wage earners are the top spenders but sales tax compared to a property tax will greatly benefit the biggest property owners. In other words, it will shift the burden from the richest to the poorest. At the very least, one has to acknowledge THAT fact. Now if someone feels the rich are paying too many taxes and the poor too few, then that's at least an argument for the sales tax.

At any rate it will hurt the economy more than people realize. I know I, for one, wouldn't buy a new car HERE under an additional 2.5% tax. I'd go to GA. There's a danger when you become the HIGHEST tax in the nation!

It would be much, much different if we had one of the LOWER sales tax bases in the nation. People all seem to be ignoring the ramification of this.

We also have enough "crap development" here. The last thing we need is a rush of low-brow development.


I don't like the property tax system as is but since we HAVE it, and are SPENDING it, we needf to think intelligently about the solution instead of people just running around saying "yay - my property taxes will be lower"!