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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   2805 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 3, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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@DuplexFields how does the FairTax proposal work?

Epistemic status: Not DuplexFields.

(I read the Neil Boortz book over a decade ago and briefly looked at the FairTax website just now.)

In a nutshell: If we adopt the FairTax, many taxes are gone, replaced by a 23% sales tax on new products and services. Taxes that no longer exist include income and payroll. As a side effect, the IRS is abolished and the 4 million word tax code is shredded, which warms my directionally-libertarian heart.

Also, everyone gets a monthly prebate (pre-rebate). Everyone gets the same amount. Not sure what the exact figure is, but I'm fairly certain it was 4 digits It's just under $300, thanks Duplex. Basically, that's to keep the tax progressive. A poor family that spends responsibly might end up making money off of taxes due to the prebate. A mega-rich guy throwing a big-ass cocktail party pays taxes on all of it, and gets the exact same monthly prebate.

Another term for the prebate is "Universal Basic Income," now that I think of it.

So... are they planning on ignoring for example all the taxes and rules about stocks? Because those rules, sadly, are complicated and hard to get rid of for a reason, only half of which is the rich like it that way (the other half is an unfortunate truth that some of the rules actually make sense to have).

Capital gains taxes indeed would go away, allowing the hoi polloi to speculate on stocks like any rich douche, with only their money at stake. “Rules” would presumably remain in place.

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