Fair Tax movement coming to Pinellas
By MARY BURRELL
Article published on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006  |
TREASURE ISLAND – What if April 15 was just like any other day? What if there was no federal income tax taken out of paychecks? And what if those taxes could be made up with a retail tax, that would hardly be felt by consumers because of all the other money being saved by not having to manage a federal income tax?
“What if?”
Sixteen years ago, some lawyers and tax accountants in California started asking these questions. They started researching their ideas, and they soon realized they really had something: An idea that would make taxing fair, that would give people the choice of when they would pay their taxes.
The IRS would be a thing of the past, and with it, the administrative and beauracratic entanglements.
What if taxing were made simple?
The group called in Thomas Alan Wright, who was in the advertising field. Work continued and, 11 years ago, the grassroots movement became a program called Fair Tax. The ideas have reached the corners of the nation, recruiting 700,000 members nationwide, with 60,000 members in Florida alone.
Wright said with about 10 percent of that actively promoting the concept.
The Fair Tax Act, which is House bill HR 25, is cosponsored by 58 congress members, including Michael Bilirakis in District 9. There are four cosponsors in the Senate. Proponents of the plan hope that it will come up for a vote in Congress as early as next year’s session.
More than $20 million has been spent in economic studies in the last 10 years, the Clearwater resident said.
In 2005, the book, “The Fair Tax” by Neal Boortz and John Linder, sold off the shelves, and now the paperback is also going fast, as the precepts spelled out in the plan, a preview of which is also available on their Web site, find acceptance, or at least curiosity, by residents.
“The American public is thrilled with the idea of nothing coming out of their paycheck,” said Wright, who is now the senior spokesman for FairTax.org.
His colleague, Kevin Whitt, who is the group’s liaison, will speak on the proposal at the Wednesday, Sept. 13 luncheon sponsored by the Tampa Bay Hospitality Association.
Under the plan, the state income tax would be unaffected, as well as other deductibles an employee may have, such as health and retirement plans.
The federal income tax would be a thing of the past, which Wright said would give people an instant 20 to 40 percent pay raise, which he argues would boost the economy, particularly relevant to Pinellas County, which relies on the tourist dollar – and willingness to spend.
“This is hugely positive,” said Wright, who lives in Clearwater but travels the country talking to groups and testifying to legislators. When he explains the plan, he said, “it is rare people don’t carry us out on their shoulders.”
He said that researchers estimate 30 percent in savings in what he termed hidden taxes and even more in administrative fees.
Small business is most effected by the yearly chore of filing tax returns, he said, because they are not big enough to hire someone to do it, and they end up having to carry the burden themselves. That would end.
Under the Fair Tax plan, Americans would register. Everyone would get a certain amount of money back each month. A family of four, for example, would get a $500 check. That way, Wright explained, a family living under the poverty level could spend just enough for necessities each month, and in essence not pay tax on it.
“No one should have to pay any tax until they are living above poverty level,” he said, which is a philosophy that presents a change from the tenet employed now – uniformity of taxation – meaning everyone pays taxes, from the poor to the rich.
“This is a huge burden to low-income Americans,” he said.
By switching the taxes paid to retail purchases, the consumer can choose not to spend much money, and therefore not pay much taxes.
“You actually decide how much tax you pay.”
He said studies have found, though, that the actual cost of items will not be much different than it is now, because of the savings in the cost of collecting a federal income tax, a cost which is currently passed to the consumer.
With more information on The Fair Tax proposal, Whitt will be the speaker Wednesday, Sept. 13, at the Bilmar Beach Resort, 10650 Gulf Blvd. Registration is 11:30 a.m., lunch is at noon. Hosted by the Tampa Bay Hospitality Association, reservations are a must; seating is limited. To R.S.V.P., call Charlie Weisgerber as 432-1256 or David Nelson-VanDette of FairTax as 422-7190.
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Article published on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006
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