The Fair Tax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS

by Neal Boortz and John Linder

Book Overview

Wouldn't you love to abolish the IRS . . .Keep all the money in your paycheck . . .Pay taxes on what you spend, not what you earn . . .And eliminate all the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060875496
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Response to previously listed objections

The eight objections listed in a review by Edgar C Sparks can be easily shot down, one at a time, and with very little difficulty (logical thinking and comprehension of sarcasm is required to understand any of the following:) 1. Opens us up to electronic money and total tracking of our monetary positions. What exactly is "electronic money"? Is "electronic money" worth the same as paper money? If it is, than I don't really give a damn. Oh, and you don't what the government tracking monetary positions (nor do I). So I guess you'd rather just keep on filling out those income tax returns, thereby helping the government do just that. Under the fair tax there is no reporting of income, accumulated wealth or assets, so what exactly are you talking about? 2. Puts us all, everyone, on the Welfare roles. Ok, I assume you are speaking of the refund on taxes paid for the basic necessities of life. Do you express feelings of dissatification and complain bitterly everytime you receive an income tax refund? I guess now it is "welfare" for the government you give us back some of our own money. This is, by the way, a much simpler way of relieving the tax burden on basic necessities, for those who can afford it or not (thereby making it fair), than exempting specific items making way for corruption of the tax code by special interest groups (which is what we have now). So the next time the federal government sends you a "welfare check" after you pay too much income tax, go ahead and send it back. 3. Quotes the wrong tax rate. It is 30%, not 23% of purchases. Do you quote your income taxes using the same formula? If so then someone in a 15% tax braket is actually paying 20%. I know you people like to quote certain taxes inclusively and others exclusively to suit your own purposes, but in the interests of fairness we should use the same formula. The inclusive rate is always less than if quoted exclusively. And how conveniently you forget about the imbedded taxes you are already paying. Man, I just realized I'm paying 8.2% FICA tax. Blast! 4. Opens us up to a Sales Tax ID so that the rich can be taxed more than the poor. This goes against the entire plan. It would require a change in the law to mandate the retailer to charge certain people more or less tax at the checkout based on this "Sales Tax ID". And as we all know the rich are not taxed at any higher of a rate under our current system, right? So we replace FINs with SIDs (whoops, already taken), may we throw our representatives to the fire if THAT ever comes to pass (nevertheless it would be no worse than what we have now.) 5. The tax rate can be easily raised at any time by the Congress. And the income tax can't be? Oh, it can, but it's just hidden amoungst tens of thousands of pages of tax code, and certain provisions only affect certain people, and since tax laws change every year no one notices anyway. But if the whole rate for everyone in the nation moves, people will notic

To all of the nay sayers

Having actually READ this book I'd like to say this to all of the people that gave it bad reviews. You either: A) Did not read the book, B) Can't comprehend what is in the book, C) Are a socialist, or D) All of the above I've read all of these bad reviews and can only wonder where did they find the information that they claim was in the book? When you eliminate the embedded taxes that are in every item(adds up to around 22%) and then add a 23% sales tax to the same items they basically even out. Everyone receives a check at the beginning of each month for the amount of sales tax that they would be expected to pay for their basic needs. As far as the comment about drug dealers not paying any taxes, are they paying an income tax now? No. But under this plan when they go to purchase goods and services they will pay taxes. People that have no concept of what they are talking about should really refrain from commenting on this. This means you people that wrote these highly inaccurate bad reviews. By the way, judging from some of these post you have to wonder if they can read at all, their English and spelling skills are pathetic at best.

Step 1: Read Book. Step 2: Review Book

It is truly amazing how people critize this book without having any knowledge of the subject. They see the words "Neal Boortz", "Fair Tax" and immediately assume that this is some soak-the-poor, evil rich manipulation scheme. READ THE BOOK FIRST! Every argument raised by critics on this site has been addressed, some from many different angles. One concept which MUST be understood and is clearly explained in the book: embedded taxes. For the critic "BushHater" (what a surprise), the concept if embedded taxes and how it affects the price of products is completely lost. Maybe this example will help you, BushHater...let's say you grow peaches. A new President is elected who hates peaches and convinces congress to pass a 20% tax on all income derived from the production and sale of peaches. What do you think you would do, BH? Would you just say, "Thanks, government! Please take more of my money!" No...you would RAISE THE PRICE OF PEACHES to help cover the new tax burden with which you were saddled. You would also pay a tax advisor to find a way around paying that 20% increase in taxes -- more money out of your pocket. Do you get it yet? That is happening RIGHT NOW -- to the tune of 22% of what you purchase. Take away the income tax and that 22% is NOT NEEDED. And if you think the evil corporations will just pocket that extra money you know nothing about capitalism and competitive markets. Add back in the 23% sales tax and it is a wash. Oh, except that YOU get to keep ALL of your check, you get a monthly prebate check to cover the sales tax on essential products, you are not taxed on what you save, you do not pay SS or medicare taxes, etc. It is a perfect system? No, there is no perfect tax system. But it is the best out there, it is VERY fair, and is sure beats the current system. Read the book. Understand the concept. See how concerns are addressed. Then, and only then, can you honestly review the topic.

A closed mind can't grasp the concepts, is yours open?

I am amazed at the ignorance of some reviewers. Some intentionally lie (or misstate the truth through ignorance), and some ask questions that are easily answered by anyone who has READ the book. Therefore, I believe that most of the negative responses come from knee-jerk persons who are merely being negative out of their partisan love of taxation. I am not calling them "Liberals", since that isn't quite encompassing enough for all of their philosophies. After all, you can be "liberal" and not favor "progressive taxation". Taxation has been taught and promoted as a necessity for so long, that I believe some people mistakingly believe it has always been a part of this country. Few know that it was a temporary measure, and started at just 1%. The need for it in today's world is muddy at best - the "need" gets created every year, but somehow whatever is received is never enough. What would the government do without the IRS? Suppose the Supreme Court found some new argument to eliminate the IRS. What would the Federal Government do for income? I bet they'd implement something like the Fair Tax Plan. After all, they will still want to spend as much money as possible, to buy as many votes as possible. I know of many people of sound mind who believe that the IRS "is just too big" to ever be controlled or eliminated. This is logic that I just can't grasp. If it can be created, it can be destroyed. If this country is to survive, it needs to grow. The IRS isn't a "growing" strategy. It isn't helping people grow, it's punishing people. It is the cloud that blocks the sun, not the water that nourishes the plant. I know that supporters of high taxation (though many of its supporters pay very little or no taxes personally) don't want to see their support system modified, but they're looking at the short picture. If prices don't change, they won't be affected, but the benefits to them from increased economic productivity will have long-lasting effects. They are looking at the cost of their rent this month, and not their ability to buy a home next year. This short-sighted, partisan idiocy, is exactly what the politicians count on. Your ignorance allows them to fleece you each year out of your future. The check you get each year is nothing compared the economic gains you could receive in a free-market economy not hampered by high taxation. The job you have today could be an amazing career down the road. But if you can't open your mind, you will never see the bigger picture, or what is possible in an alternative future. This book is about what we can do if we stop punishing success, and start rewarding it. If you slam this book, then you don't expect success in your own life. Or, you're too lazy to work on it. I used to be the lazy type, always eager to excuse my failures. I understand the way the people think who slam this book - I used to be one of you. But then I realized that what I was doing wasn't working. Success doesn't com

Beware of false reviews

It is obvious that Wealthy American and Rational Georgian did not actually read this book before the entered their review. After reading this book, I am amazed at how simple the idea really is. Do away with payroll taxes and the price of the item you are buying will drop. The idea of embedded taxes that we are paying under the current system never even came to mind before. I, as the end user, have to pay the payroll tax cost of every vender that touches that item. That cost is a pretty significant part of the total cost of the product. Harvard studies are showing 21% and higher depending on the item. On top of getting rid of the embedded tax, I end up getting more in my paycheck and I get a pre-bate for the cost of living. Where is the negative? I started to some research on line to find out and have yet to find any real negative. I found plenty of false propaganda from those that have not fully reviewed the plan, but no substantiated negative. The book itself is well written and easy to understand. My hats off to both John Linder and Neal Boortz to taking a pretty complex subject and making it so easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the tax code and ideas on how we can change it.