Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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 notice, and there had better be a damn good reason for it.

6. There is no way to limit the maximum tax rate. The tax rate can be increased to 100% and the Welfare rate increased so that all people receive the same income.

And if the rate is 100% how can this lead to an redistributed equal income? Yes this could happen if the INCOME tax rate was 100%, but so the hell what if the SALES tax is 100%. Money not spent at the retail level would not be taxed. Such a tax would destroy retail sales, and create an immense underground black market. An politicians would be extremely hard pressed to give everyone an equal income when revenue plummets. (By the way, who would work if you received the same income no matter what you did?) You do understand the difference between an INCOME TAX and a SALES TAX, don't you? It appears not.


7. It is nothing more than a way-stop on the way to a totally Communistic society.

No, actually the exact opposite. Not adopting this and keeping the income tax is what is doing exactly what you fear. If fact your concerns from objection #6 are valid but completely misplaced. If you are truly concerned about objections #6 & 7, then you should be demanding the Congress institute this tax reform. This is a voluntary tax, as opposed to the money just being seized without a conscious choice by you. That is far from Communist.

8. It will lead to wage confiscation.

Did you even READ the book? What a truly asinine statement. The fair tax has nothing whatsoever to do with wages & income. It replaces all income, estate, Social Security and Medicare taxes. You keep 100% of your paycheck (aside from any State taxes), and this is "wage confiscation". What in the blue f#$% have you been smoking? Wage confiscation is what we have right now, sir. Wake up! You've listed three objection to the fair tax, that are far more applicable to the income tax.

As put by many here, "If you don't like it you clearly don't understand it". But more accurately, if you don't like it, you are either willfully ignorant, or incredibly stupid.

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.

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.

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 come from envy of the rich - it comes from the success of hard work.

The Fair Tax Plan isn't easy - and nothing good ever is. It will be tough to grasp for many, but that doesn't mean it isn't important. Physics is tough to grasp, but I wouldn't want Gravity to stop working, just because so few people understand it.

If you really want to understand this plan, then read the book. Don't lie about it, don't create your impression before you read it. Just read it. And think to yourself what could happen if you started making 40% more each paycheck. Heck, even 20% more!

What would you do with more money? Give it to the government, or save it for your family? Or, even get a family! :-)

The book is right. As a business owner, I will admit that I pad all my pricing to make sure that I get a certain amount of money after taxes. I hate doing it, but that's the way it is. Under the Fairtax, I could drop my prices anywhere from 20%-30%, and still make the same amount of money.

My clients would pay less, get the same service, and we would all have more money.

Finally a tax plan that was built to run the government like a business, not a pork barrel.

There is a fundamental rule from project management that can describe the state of our current complicated tax system: there is an exponential relationship between complexity of the project, system, or solution and the cost to create and maintain the system over time (i.e., think NASA engineering projects, large software development projects, and the current tax code/system). To prevent extreme costs, the system's complexity should be reduced and simplified as much as possible, and this is the crux of this brilliant book, which offers a drastically simpler yet effective and mathematically demonstrable system (FairTax) of collecting taxes in a manner that will boost America's global competitiveness and stimulate job and wealth creation.

Many examples are given in the book that demonstrates the excessive cost of our tax system due to its complexity, here are a few examples:

* 5.8 billion man hours of effort are spent annually in the US to ensure compliance with the complicated tax code, which is equivalent to a full-time workforce of 2.77 million people! (p.43).

* Tax decisions made by businesses due to the current complicated tax system costs our economy 18% of GDP! (p.49)

* Approximately $500 billion a year is spent to comply with the code, all of it spent just to collect no more than three times that amount in tax revenue! (p.49)

This book also gives great insights into the reasons why businesses are offshoring due to our current tax system and the accompanying job losses caused by this and how the FairTax system can drastically increase the global competitiveness of America, creating many new jobs and implicitly bringing down our trade deficits (chapter 6). Another great insight is why corporate taxation adds unnecessarily complexity to our current tax system -- in the end, it's individuals who pick up the corporate tax costs, i.e., shareholders, employees, and customers (chapter 3).

I highly recommend this insightful well-written book, and with enough publicity and effort (i.e., please read the book and recommend it to family and friends) it will lead to a grass-roots effort to simplify our very complex tax system and lead America into more prosperity. Thankfully, the timing of this book couldn't have been better - President Bush and many members of Congress have been discussing ways of simplifying the tax system - it's time now to shout the need for change into their political ears. Neal Boortz and John Linder, thank you for writing this book and proposing the FairTax system!

First if you want to get more information from a solid source go to [...], another interesting web site is [...] The first is the official web site for the fair tax the second one is run by supporters of the fair tax, both of which I have found to be quite reliable for information.

If you want a nice review of the book itself read KAB's review. I just want to say a couple things. I am a strong supporter of the fair tax and for me this book cleared up some things so that I can make better arguments as to why we need the fair tax. Next if you aren't sure about buying this book wait until May when the paperback version comes out with letters from Senators/Congressman responding to the fair tax. I plan to buy this version of the fair tax book too.

If you honestly read the fair tax book without any bias going in you will find it the best solution to the horrible system we have now. Is the fair tax perfect? No but what system is perfect? Next I honestly have not heard one good reason to be against the fair tax. Every criticism is either misleading, blatantly false, or quite simply someone who is misinformed.

The last thing I would like to do is address some common reasons people quote to criticize the fair tax.

1. The poor will suffer.

This is false for one basic reason anyone living below the poverty level will not pay any taxes. Under our current system people below the poverty level do pay taxes. I know this because I am a student and I made $1,018.00 in the state of Virginia last year and had $63.00 in social security with held which I won't be getting back. Under the fair tax this won't happen. Reason two the poor won't be hurt, prices of goods will stay the same. Don't believe me. Then read the book specifically the part about embedded taxes.

2. The black market will go sky high.

No it won't. Why? Because over 90% of retail goods are sold by companies like, can you guess who, that's right Wal-Mart. Do you really think Wal-Mart is going to sell $10 shoes on the black market. Besides with so many people calling Wal-Mart the spawn of Satan guess where they still shop? Do you really think that a new tax that barely affects prices is going to cause people to suddenly stop shopping at Wal-Mart? Sorry but this is just wishful thinking. Lastly where are all of these black market goods going to come from? Do you think crime is going to go sky high as well? It is not like someone is going to buy new goods (i.e. pay the fair tax) just to sell them on the black market.

3. There will be a sales tax and an income tax.

First the amount of support needed to get HR-25 passed is already considered impossible by the critics of the bill. So if we were able to generate the support to pass the bill why can't we generate the support to remove the 16th Amendment. Next it is political suicide to impose a 23% tax without removing any other taxes. Even if politicians wanted both don't you think they would have quietly passed the bill several years ago before you knew anything about it?

4. The rich will never pay taxes again or will only pay the same amount as we normal people pay.

I am sorry but you have to be insane to believe this. In theory yes Bill Gates, Jordan, and Paris Hilton could never pay taxes again. How do you ask? Well it's simple really they just have to renounce their lavish lifestyles and live at the poverty level until they grow old and die.

Paris Hilton is going to renounce her lifestyle when pigs fly.

For those of you who think Bill Gates never buys anything on his own, you really need to get over your wealth envy. You claim everything he owns is bought by his business and he doesn't concern himself with buying stuff. Then you claim he will fly over seas in buy stuff and thus avoid the fair tax. Aren't you contradicting yourself? Next anything bought overs seas is still subject to the fair tax and it only takes one time to get caught trying to sneak goods into the country. P.S. I would love for you to tell me how to sneak a 50 million dollar yacht into the USA. Perhaps in a carry on? Furthermore, the economic cost, (i.e. plane ticket, or private jet, hotels, car rental, your time) of flying over seas to buy stuff to avoid the fair tax is quite high. The time Bill Gates wastes going over seas is probably more costly than what he could save in avoided taxes. Also if Bill Gates can avoid all taxes by calling it a business expense why do you think he isn't he doing it already under the current system?

So he doesn't pay taxes under either system by your assumption. Thus the fair tax is no worse. Lastly it only takes once for Bill Gates to get caught claiming personal items as a business expense. The government would be eager use him as an example.

5. If the fair tax is so great why don't politicians on either side like it.

This one is easy. It is all about power. Taxes give politicians power. Politicians use taxes to buy votes and this is how. The country needs money so Mr. P. tells you vote for me and I won't tax you. I will tax the evil rich, or the big bad companies, or the nasty smokers, anyone but YOU just vote for me. Anyone will vote for the guy who wants to tax other people. The fair tax will take away this power and politicians will fight tooth and nail to stop you from taking it way. The only way they won't fight you is if they know you are going to vote them out of office for not supporting the fair tax.

Remember politicians are the ones who came up with the great ideas like painting a fish on the side of plane, the bridge to nowhere, Social Security which is going under, the US post office which takes a month to send a package that UPS or Fedex can send in 4-5 days, and many many more stupid ideas like the 10,000 pages regulating the income tax.

These last few are added in response to some other reviews.

6. rate must be 30% not 23%.

Anyone who claims that supporters of the fair tax are lying about the 23% and claim it is 30% are simply using scare tactics. The fair tax is calculated as an inclusive tax because it is one. Examples would be the tax on gasoline. This is built into the price you see when you are pumping your gas. An exclusive tax is would be the typical sales tax. Example you buy a shirt and pay additional 5% in taxes.

Under the fair tax if you want to buy an item marked at $10.00 you pay $10.00, from this $7.70 goes to a business and $2.30 goes to taxes, hence the 23%. Under an exclusive tax method you see a price of $7.70, the amount the business selling it gets, and you would pay a total of $10.00 after taxes, hence 2.30 is about 30% of $7.70. So it is your choice on how you calculate the tax either way you pay the same amount in the end. Please be aware that people who quote 30% often say the final price would be $13.00, when calculating an exclusive tax not $10.00, and notice that this implies $5.30 is paid in taxes on an item costing $7.70 or about a 68.8% exclusive tax or inclusively a 41% tax. Both of which are highly misleading.

7. Prebate is not enough.

Those who state the prebate is not enough to help someone making $20,000 a year buy a $400,000 house need to show me where in the Constitution every person is guaranteed the right to own any expensive thing they want. The guarantee that citizens in the United States have is the right to WORK towards TRYING to buy a $400,000 house. Just because you want something does not mean the government is required to give it to you. In fact, the government should not be going around giving handouts.

8.To prove that there are legitimate concerns/questions about the fair tax here are a few questions you should be concerned with instead of many of the lame criticisms given by people who have not read the book.
1) How will the government distribute so many prebate checks each month?
2) If I am retired and not paying any income taxes won't the fair tax effectively tax me twice since I have already paid taxes on things like my ROFF IRA?
3)Why is the prebate determined at a national level instead of by state or county? Is it right for someone in New York City to get the same prebate as someone in Nowhereville, North Dakota?
4)Is a sales tax as stable as an income tax?
5)If the GDP really does double in 10-15 years won't inflation be a factor?
6)If we are getting all of our pay check back, why won't inflation be factor?

It would be really nice if people would quit harping on about the big bad evil rich and the explosion in the black market. Certain people are always going to hate the rich no matter what. The black market exists now and people can avoid paying sales taxes and embedded taxes which are 5% and 22% so why isn't there an explosion in the black market right now? Perhaps because people fear going to jail or just want a guarantee of quality.

Get the book read it and decide for yourself what should be done with the income tax. Those who are against the fair tax offer no solution of their own.

I hope this helps you out. The book really is a great read. It even has humor in it.

I've read the fair tax book and find that it is the most logical replacement for our present tax system. I don't get too excited when I read about what this economist said or that economist said. It's hard to get two economist to agree on anything. I have a B.S. is Business and Economics and a J.D. with an emphasis in business and corporate law.
Simply put, while the Fair Tax plan has its flaws, it has far fewer flaws than our present tax system. Even tax professionals, Tax lawyers, Tax courts, and the IRS cannot always agree on many provisions of the current tax law that the common citizen is tasked with compliance. To say that the Fair Tax plan has some flaws so therefore should be scrapped before it's put into place, is the mind set of the obstructionist and the stupid.

I've read many of the reviews that are critical of the Fair Tax plan and it's obvious the writers have no clue as to the true cost of doing business in America. Don't ask a bookeeper, ask a cost accountant the cost of tax compliance in todays business.

For the wage earner, how many times have you said or heard said that it's no use to work overtime because the government will just eat up the extra earnings in more taxes making the extra work not worth the effort?

For those who would reject the Fair Tax plan because of the few flaws, I would ask them, do you prefer our present system? Suppose we were currently under a tax system like the Fair Tax plan, would you favor replacing it with a tax plan that is like the current IRS tax code?

I've read many reviews that state that the poor are already paying a majority of the taxes and the rich are paying almost no tax. Those individuals are so far out of touch with the facts that any opinion they may have has to be flawed on the outset and can be dismissed.

The Fair Tax book, while not answering all the questions, does answer and explain the tax plan in very simple terms that most people can understand.

I have always loved the idea of the FairTax, but I have always been skeptical over how it could possibly work. It sounds too good to be true. Thanks to this book, it all makes sense now. I am all for it and will be calling my senators and representative today!

I had a lot of questions about people on social security that paid taxes their whole life and would now get hit with a sales tax. That did not seem very fair to me! This book answered that question and many more that I had not really been able to put to words yet.

I finished this book in about 2 hours. It is a fast and easy read. For a topic as complicated and boring as our tax system, this book did an excellent job of bringing all together.

If you have ever been frustrated by taxes or the IRS, read this book! See what it could be like. I especially like the idea of bringing those American manufacturing jobs back to the US where they belong. Blue collar or white collar, rich or poor, this really does appear to be the win / win.

I do still have two major concerns. If this gets passed, we will immediately see politicians trying to get the "prebate" amount raised to buy votes. Second, the sales tax is actually embedded in the price of the goods. You don't pay $77 with $23 of tax tacked on ... you pay $100 and the business calculates and pays the $23 behind the scenes. And the prices drop 22% when it is passed, so it is pretty much a wash. While I can see this making it more palatable when it first gets passed, I would like to see that 23% on my receipt. That way, when Congress decides they need more money and raise the rate, I see it right there out in the open on my receipt instead of having it hidden in a slightly higher price. Other than those two things, I am sold!