Federal Sales Tax

I really think that the federal goverment should replace the income tax with a sales tax. This will make things simple, free up time, and make government less intrusive in our lives. It will also encourage earning, saving, and investing.

Here is how the system could work:

1. The government would set one rate (i.e. 17%).

2. The government would decide how much spending should be exempt from taxes (i.e. $10,000 per adult, $5,000 per child, so $30,000 for a family of four).

3. At the beginning of the year, the government would mail checks or direct deposit to everyone with social security numbers. (i.e. $10,000 x .17 = $1,700 for adults, $5,000 x .17 = $850 for kids, so $5,100 for a family of four).

4. Whenever someone buys something from a store, sales tax would be collected.

5. Since most states already collect sales tax, the government could contract with the states to handle the federal tax collection as well. The states could be allowed to keep say, .2%, for the trouble. For non-sales tax states, the federal government would probably collect it.


The exemptions will make the sales tax fair to low income families. The tax rate will show everyone how much government is costing us.