Steve Hayes of FairTax.org: When It Comes To Taxation ”Simplicity Is Virtue” (And Moral)

June 4, 2022 - Participants Include:

 

Steven Hayes Fair Tax

Joe Howard - @EndCBTNow

John Richardson - @ExpatriationLaw

 

"In a sad voice, Jefferson says: When we wrote the Constitution, all of us knew history. We knew that great civilizations begin to decline when they introduced direct taxation. In the Constitution, we restricted direct taxation because we knew it would yield the same result experienced by other nations  using direct taxation-erosion of individual rights and the oppression of the minority by the majority because it could use its political power to use the government to steal from the minority."

From - "WOULD THOMAS JEFFERSON THINK WE ARE FREE?" - By Steven L. Hayes and Charles Adams

Notice that suggested connection between individual rights and tax rights!

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Continuing the discussion with Steve Hayes ...

On March 27, 2022 I hosted Jim Bennet of "Fair Tax" and learned about the "Fair Tax Proposal".  On April 13, 2022, Jim Bennet returned as a guest and was joined by Steve Hayes and Joe Howard. The April 13, 2022 podcast can be heard here.

Mr. Hayes and Mr. Bennet are the primary movers and creators of H.R. 25 "The Fair Tax Act of 2021" which can be viewed here.

So, what is the "Fair Tax" movement?

At the risk of oversimplification, H.R. 25 proposes to replace Subtitle A (Income Tax), Subtitle B (Estate and Gift Tax) and Subtitle C (Employment Tax) of Title 26 (The Internal Revenue Code)  with one comprehensive consumption tax.

If enacted the "Fair Tax" would create a U.S. tax system that:

-  was a territorial (tax imposed on activity in the US only) based on a consumption tax (tax imposed on consumption and not income)

- allowed certain low income people to apply for tax abatements

- made the U.S. a more attractive location for foreign investment and business activities

- ended the tax filing requirement for individual taxpayers (and therefore ended the "Regulatory Oppression" experienced by individuals in general and Americans abroad in particular)

- ending the relevance of "tax residency" because taxation would be based on spending only

- solved the problems of citizenship tax as experienced by US emigrants and accidental Americans

The adoption of the "Fair Tax" would result in a major change in US society. As the great tax historian Charles W. Adams taught:

As goes taxation, so goes civilization!

I strongly suggest that Americans abroad support the "Fair Tax" movement!