Customer Reviews

FairTax: The Truth: Answering the Critics

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First off, I'm actually going to write a review of the book as a book (which is what the section is really for). Then I'll add to the other commentary.
***
I enjoyed this book, just as I did the first FairTax book. It is nice read, and I enjoy Boortz's writing in particular. Probably one of the biggest flaws of the book is the extreme length of what is probably the most important chapter in the book: that is, the chapter that deals with what the authors consider legitimate criticisms to address. Even as an ardent reader and supporter of the FairTax, getting through this chapter was a bit tough. Surely they could have broken it up a bit.

There is nothing abstract in the book. Examples are clear cut and well explained. Having the footnotes in there also really helps, as the authors have highlighted for you, the reader, the same things they read.

All in all, a good read, and highly recommended to both those who support the FairTax and even those who don't. For those that do, this will clear up the major issues, and give you, as the authors say, the ammunition you need to refute some of the claims. For those that don't support the FairTax, you'll have a better understanding of your enemy's idea.
***


Boortz and Linder "ignore" the reviews by various organizations that alter the FairTax in some way. In other words, these organizations established guidelines for their reviews of proposed tax plans that change how the FairTax would work. Imagine it like this: an independent organization is going to rate every car on the road in terms of safety features, but in their guidelines, they state that solid steel bars running down the sides of a car shouldn't be considered. My car, and all the others like it, take a hit in those safety ratings. Why? Because someone decided to cut out an important feature.

The FairTax only deals with Federal income taxes. Excise taxes, such as those levied on alcohol and tobacco, will likely still be there. Asides from almost always being state mandated taxes, excise taxes are exclusive (that is, they are not reflected in the price you see at the counter; you see it only after it is added at the register). Any tax levied by a state, whether it be on income or your various property and licenses, is still valid. The FairTax does not deal with the 50 individual states and taxes they choose to levy.

The thing that will stop Congress from raising the tax rate is the collective displeasure of the American people. Right now, tax increases (when they do occur) often only impact the rich because the current tax code allows politicians to selective target groups with tax breaks and increases. Implement the FairTax, and everyone is paying the same rate (though, as I'll address soon, not the same amount); now Congress would be trying to raise the tax burden of every American. That's a sure fire way to find yourself booted out of office.

Pay as you use items (phones, vending machines, etc) already have embedded taxes factored into the cost of each item. Gambling and lottery winnings get double taxed already: first upon receipt of them (they are a form of income) and then when you spend them (those nice embedded taxes again). Ditto for internet purchases. I purchased my copy of this book off of this website. Rather than drive to a bookstore, I chose to make the retail purchase online: all the embedded taxes that the FairTax would replace are still there.

I admit I'm surprised at the number of people who argue that the FairTax would drive people into a "used" buying frenzy, including things like used gasoline (not sure how that one works, though), and say that is a bad thing. Is it a bad thing for you to save your money by buying used? That's money you can invest, or save to send your kid to college. I work in retail, and people have a voracious appetite for new things, even if they aren't always necessary. Kids want new toys (video games). How many women want to buy used cosmetics? Your favorite author puts out a new book: are you going to wait to try and find it used? Yeah, some people might, but overall,

Now, the FairTax has everyone pay the same rate: 23% (AND REMEMBER, THAT COST IS ALREADY THERE under the current system as companies are just passing their tax burden onto the consumer). There is no difference in a millionaire buying a mop for his maid to use and the stay at home mom who will buy the same mop for herself: they both pay 23%. I've often thought, however, that the class warfare folks should be jumping on the FairTax bandwagon, and here's why:

Ask yourself, who is more likely to buy a new car: the rich guy, or the middle class guy? Who is buying a personal sailing yacht? Rich people will get shafted under the FairTax, even as they are now, but at least now, they will have a choice in the matter. Poor people will see a rise in their bring home income, the prebate to cover necessities, and little or no change in overall prices (with embedded taxes gone, some prices go up, others go down, and some stay where they are. Even those that would change would not change much).

Oh, and one final thing. I've heard it said, and seen it here, that one reason not to support their FairTax is simply because of whom some of the proponents are. Well, first off, the movement is big, and growing, and it includes plenty of normal, everday Americans. Not giving the FairTax any thought because you don't like Boortz and/or Linder is stupid. It reminds me of the comment I heard back in 2000. A friend of mine, rather conservative himself, stated he wasn't going to vote for George W. Bush because we already had one president with the last name Bush. That was his sole reason.

Is that not moronic? I mean, it is one thing to disagree with candidates, and to vote against them because of that. It is a similar, though admittedly not identical, situation here. Boortz and Linder may not be your favorite people in the world, but they are carrying a message. Judge the message for itself, not based on who carries it.

If you didn't get (grasp) the Fair Tax idea in the first book, or if you listened to the fearful, or the misinformed, or those who have no understanding of how the economy works and how the present tax system acts as a brake on the economy, then Fair Tax: The Truth: Answering Critics by Neal Boortz and John Linder is a must read for you. In fact this should be required reading on the part of every American who considers himself literate.

One by one, the questions are answered in a logical, calm manner. The misunderstandings and intentional misrepresentations are taken on by Boortz and Linder in a point by point response. While I do have disagreements from time to time with Mr. Boortz when I listen to him on the radio I am 100% on the same page with him on the tax issue. His and John Linders system makes so much sense I can't see how anyone doesn't get it.

This isn't just a rehash of the first Fair Tax book either. There is new information contained in Fair Tax: The Truth.

Well done Neal and John.

I have a degree in economics and I spent almost 7 weeks in college working with the economic effects of tax policy! Fair-Tax is awsome!!!

This is the best book by far on this topic, far better than the first one explaining the entire concept. Just as with anything else in life, if you are to have an educated opinion on anything, you must first fully research the facts revolving around what you want to talk about. Unfortunately this is not what the pundits, critics, and media surrounding the Fair-Tax have done.

95% of people against the Fair-Tax don't fully understand or have not properly researched this topic before opening their mouth. And the other 5% of people against the fair tax are against the Fair-Tax because they want the government to have a vice grip on the America Public and Private sector in some way, shape or form.

What you really need to do, is just to borrow this book, and read the last chapter. I do want Boortz to get #1 on the best seller list, but for those of who do not want to spend the proper time to educate themselves as they should in this matter, should look to the final chapter. This gives a perspective view of what life would be like if you lived under the fair tax. If you read the last chapter and still are in favor of the Federal Income Tax when you are done, you clearly cannot grasp the full benefit of the Fair Tax to yourself, your loved ones, your friends, your company (or your employer), and your country.

I bought about 30 books to give to people when the first book came out, I am sure I will do the same this time.

Andy,
Atlanta, Georgia

Since I consider myself more or less an economic moderate who accepts the fundamental proposition that our tax system is fundamentally flawed and needs reform, I figured this "well reviewed" book was worth a look. Rather then give just an overall review, I decided to give an analytical breakdown with direct quoting of the text more or less chronologically.

On xxi on the introduction, the book makes a key point that the Fair Tax proposal is "revenue neutral", claiming that the Fair Tax would simply be a more efficient mechanism for collecting X revenue. Fair enough. But then the book proceeds, on page 18, to wax philosophic of the halcyon days of generations past, when taxes were much lower. It fails to acknowledge that the government provides a lot more services than it did when "the parents of today's baby boomers" worked. So yes, taxes will naturally be lower when not paying for Medicaid/Medicare, veteran's health care, affirmative action programs, great society anti-poverty programs, a military industrial complex developed despite Eisenhower's warnings back in the 1950's, etc. I think criticizing any of these programs is fair game, but mentioning such points strays from the original "revenue neutral' point expressed earlier. Pages 23-25 and 61-65 focus on spending criticisms, many of which are valid, of how tax money is wasted (though implying all welfare recipients buy brand new cars on page 23 is a bit "disingenuous", a term of which the authors seem to be fond). However, I bought this book to learn more about the equity and efficiency inherent in a national sales tax, so the anti-spending rants aren't relevant to this stated purpose (and some sections, such as the nostalgic reminiscences of when "our troops were on the side of the Lord", are completely irrelevant to the supposed point of the book - the authors seem keen on periodically slipping in their own socially conservative values which I don't appreciate in a book I thought was about economic policy). Yes, on page 96 the authors reaffirm they are just focusing on tax reform, not spending reform, but many of the anecdotes shared in the book contradict this message.

On page xxiv, the fair tax suggests that education should be taxed as an investment instead of consumption, which I find to be a sound idea. The only minor quibble is the inevitable lobbying sessions that will take place as various leisure training programs try to fight to earn that label and thus receive tax exempt status.

The book argues that the income tax serves as a disincentive to work, as oft explained by the Laffer Curve. Of course, this assumes workers' demand for a certain level of income is elastic - if a worker's need/preference for $50,000 worth of disposable income is inelastic, that worker arguably may even work HARDER with higher taxes, in order to achieve that income threshold. The same argument of elasticity could be applied to the Sarkozy plan praised on page 52; his plan makes sense because the hours worked after 35 hours are elastic, since working above 35 hours for most people is optional and thus they respond to "price" changes (by which I mean changes in income taxes.) But to apply that same logic to someone's first hour of work fails the elasticity test - since everyone (who does not live off government handouts or inherited wealth) must work at least one hour a week, reducing taxes on one's first hour of work would not have any negative impact on productivity. Furthermore, the authors fail to note other benefits that come with a progressive income tax, such as the fact that it serves as an automatic stabilizer which helps lessen the inflationary effects of economic expansion as well as helps to cushion the blow for all people when the economy contracts (and if you are unfamiliar with such terms as "elasticity" and "automatic stabilizers", I recommend taking Econ 101 before taking the authors at their word on their economic claims and blindly joining this movement, or any other.) The book also loves to repeatedly compare a progressive income tax to the Communist Manifesto, failing to recognize that a progressive income tax not only characterizes nearly all of the most developed countries, but that most economists support it. Even Adam Smith, the "father of capitalism", said " It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion." Furthermore, on page 29, the book implies that people who make more money work harder; this is only a possible and partial explanation, the kind of explanation someone like Sean Hannity would like you to wholeheartedly embrace. The big disparity in income is not one's work ethic and man hours clocked at work, but rather the rarity of one's skill set. I know several people who work in IT that make close to six figure salary while only working about 20 hours a week. But nonetheless, I think a case can be made for significantly lowering income taxes (and offsetting them with a national sales tax), especially the payroll tax.

However, on xxv, the book also states the estate tax should be eliminated. I don't see any justification for this. It seems to rather rely on the emotional language of `being taxed at death' (p207) rather than rationally explain the societal benefit of such a repeal as it does with its analysis on its national sales tax. With the exception of a small group of less wealthy farmers (who can be exempt with a reasonably high income threshold), the repeal of the estate tax does only serves to concentrate wealth in a perpetual aristocracy. I have no problem with a hard worker, a risk taking entrepreneur, or someone exceptionally athletic or creative making and keeping millions of dollars, but a society can not advance if a notable percentage of people have millions of dollars handed to them just because they were lucky enough to be born exiting birth canal A instead of birth canal B. An estate tax helps prevent this in addition to providing additional revenue from those who have not earned the income themselves, and I did not find the book in any way explained how such a tax is harmful to the United States overall (only to those "interest groups" of the exceptionally wealthy, and I understand the FairTax to be opposed to the influence of interest groups.) In fact, the book itself, on page 45 and elsewhere, argues that a key principle of the fairtax is that is "taxes wealth instead of wages" - as the estate tax also targets wealth instead of wages, I would presume a FairTax supporter should also be supportive of it as well.

On xxvi, I did not notice any mention of property taxes. Are the authors in favor of eliminating, reducing, stabilizing, etc. property taxes? This is not a criticism; I was just hoping this question could be answered.

On page 2, it mentions famous people like Sean Hannity who are behind the proposal. Word of advice: if you trying to broaden your appeal of your tax proposal on its merits, probably best to avoid mentioning such polarizing and ideologically driven figures. For the FairTax to ever become a reality, it would require the support of liberals, moderates, and conservatives alike, and thus it is only relevant to mention supporters who have valuable economic insight, such as Milton Friedman. And when it discusses "some very serious people have begun exploring (the Fairtax") on page 12, it probably doesn't matter that no names are actually mentioned or even footnoted, because this "appeal to authority" is a logical fallacy to begin with and doesn't emphasize the merits of the fairtax proposal directly.

On page 14, when it says a "fair tax" should treat everyone equally, is it addressing excise taxes? Taxes on things such as alcohol and cigarettes should be higher (granted, a normative statement) because they engender negative externalities; since their consumption makes society worse (air pollution for cigarettes, higher correlation with criminal activity for alcohol, higher health care costs for both, etc.), it is FAIR to tax these products more than, say, buying a book, to attempt to reduce their overall consumption. Though I suspect that since the fairTax authors believe the tax code should not be used "to do more than simply raise money for the government" (page 93), I suppose we'll "have to agree to disagree."

On page 16, the book claims revenues to Social Security and Medicare would double under its proposal, but does not provide any references or footnotes documenting research that would support these claims. Failure to provide such documentation makes such claims as useful as similar claims made in books by Michael Moore.

On page 21, a footnote discusses federal spending over decades. But if figures are not adjusted for inflation, the stats are much less useful. It's like concluding that Americans are better students now than in 1790, because back then there were only thousands of high school graduates while in 2011 there are millions.

On page 26, the authors tie in a national sales tax with the idea of "dollar votes"; in other words, that a FairTax would enable people to influence policy by choosing what to buy. This is only partly true - if you don't like the way money is spent, you can opt to purchase less to send the message you're not happy with government policies. But all this can do is influence HOW MUCH revenue the government receives, not HOW it chooses to allocate its funds.

I found pages 30-38 to raise valid points and worth reading. I would only add that companies are not only looking for the lowest tax rates; other variables such as low crime, good infrastructure, and an educated local workforce are often important as well (and these, of course, often require taxes in order to create - though admittedly sometimes the private sector may deliver on these quasi-public goods). It should be noted, though, that many of the countries who have been praised in the book for lowering their income and/or corporate taxes (pages 49-50) are currently in a state of financial ruin, most notably Ireland.

Pages 55 - 58 raises good points about the "prebate" incentive for immigrants to want to be legal, and the money that can be gained from foreigners paying sales tax. Minor points: there's no evidence that becoming a "predominant tax haven" will automatically make the US a key tourism destination, nor is this connection explained. And it should be noted that, just as Americans are exempt from paying much of the VAT when they spend more than a certain amount of money during their trip, the same would also apply to foreigners, so the windfall gain from tourism would likely not be as high as optimistically anticipated.

Pages 87 - 108 is a good explanation of the group's goals, amusing obstacles encountered, and some very specific interest groups' reasons for supporting the current tax code, but in my opinion the targets were too specific; I would have preferred the authors address in detail more generalized critiques.

Pages 109 - 128 contain a relevant discussion on how taxes are levied. The idea that a supermajority vote is needed before Congress can exclude or exempt any service from the Fair Tax, as suggested on page 127, is a very good idea; I hope the threshold is set very high, like 90% or so. Furthermore, pages 129-130 has a very persuasive chart suggesting how consumption patterns are more stable than income patterns, though at some point I would like to see an updated chart reflecting the recent financial crisis, which may have altered this.

Pages 134- 141 has a fair discussion as to why Internet products should be taxed as well as to why the government itself should be taxed.

On page 145, the book argues that post-implementation of the fairTax, "American workers would have more purchasing power in the domestic marketplace." This is only partially true - the truth is workers would have more purchasing power in the WORLD marketplace. I have worked with many Venezuelans who make frequent trips to buy things in Miami to avoid the 30% inflation in Venezuela. Similarly, with more purchasing power, there is no guarantee Americans will spend this increased income proportionally in the United States. Vacations abroad may become more popular (especially since as a foreigner you are often exempt from paying the VAT levied by other countries) and people may opt to buy more goods at home, people living within a few hours drive of Mexico and Canada might make more border runs to buy goods (certainly not a majority of the country, but a factor nonetheless). Of course, to prevent people from buying above their importation limit, customs agents will have to become more active in searching through Americans' purchases when they return home - which would of course entail higher costs and need for more taxes to off-set that bureaucratic cost.

Another point is that individualized retirement and health savings accounts, advocated by many conservatives and economists alike, would not be easy for the government to arrange if medicare and social security taxes were abolished; this, of course, is a whole other topic too long to address here.

Pages 193 - 208, like much of the intro and the preface, is mostly cheerleading - feel good reading if you're a supporter. I gained nothing by reading it.

In short, I found this book often lacking in providing ample research footnotes to support its claims. The book makes a strong case of the need to reform our current tax code, as "investments should be made based on growth and earnings potential, not on gaming the tax code." (page 90). Though the FairTax idea might have potential, but this book intended "to answer its critics" has only served to make me more of one; I went from someone with no set opinion on the matter and even quite open to the proposal, but finds that if this is the "authority" on a national sales tax, I am quite far from being convinced. If a Fairtax supporter is reading this, I would be happy if you could recommend a book/author/economist advocating its principles which addresses most of the aforementioned criticisms and has more specific documentation for its mathematical claims. I could still potentially be on board "the movement" if some key changes were made to the current bill and/or supporters can rationally (and preferably politely) address these concerns.

Just look at the reviews who give it one star. Claiming lots of attorneys and IRS employees will loose thier jobs. Basically the reviewers are saying, ME,ME, ME. What about being fair? This book sums it up in one simple go. So some attonerys will loose there jobs. Some IRS employees. What about the small businesses who have been put out of business by the IRS in error. Or the small business owners (2007 it was 23)who were so stressed out by IRS audits that they killed themselves. 15 of those had done nothing wrong. It will save the planet as we dont need to keep copies and tons of paper.

After reading this book you will ask yourself, why hasn't Washington passed this plan! If our elected officials and soon to be elected officials truly care about the people, the country, and really want to change things for the better, what then is the possible reason the FairTax has not been passed? This plan is amazing and the most fair for all people, not to mention the most researched tax plan out there. Plus, best of all, it gets the government nose out of our personal lives. No IRS should be music to everyone's ears.

Tried and true conservative here that loved the snippets of wit and humor riddled throughout the book. However, i was surprised at how slowly the book developed. It felt as though the entire first half of the book was hearing about how good the book was going to be and how far our socks would be knocked off if we continued reading. Finally, upon reaching the chapters that directly address common criticisms of the proposed tax system, you get some real meat and potatoes. Solid arguments, heck of a fantastic tax replacement idea - but I noticed far too many reviewers reviewing and rating the actual Fair Tax on here instead of the book. Admittedly, it's hard to separate the two when rating, but really I'd place this book somewhere between 3 and 4 stars due to its slow developments, constant contradictions (none vital to the basis of the Fair Tax at least), and far too much "sales" language in the text although the authors attest to the exact opposite approach no less than nineteen times throughout.
If you're tired of the IRS and ridiculous tax system we all are enslaved to, this book can't possibly fill your head with any poor notions; let's make it a reality instead of just a best-seller.

For some reason, critics of the FairTax (or any other proposed taxing system) insist that it be perfect. And if the new system is not perfect, then don't replace the broken income tax system we have now. That is pretty much like saying you can't buy a new fuel-efficient, safer car because it's not perfect. Keep your old car instead...the one that belches smoke, gets 7 mpg, and costs a fortune to keep running.

The United States will never have a perfect tax system. That point is made clear in the book. But doing nothing while waiting for the perfect system that critics crave will lead to a bankrupt nation. The numbers and trends don't lie.

Critics also fail to comment on our broken entitlement systems (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid). That's because the FairTax provides true reform that does not depend on the wages of the average working Joe. Everyone, tourists and illegal immigrants included, will get to particpate in making those systems solvent.

Hmmmm, I wonder if the critics have an agenda that is not in the best interest of working Americans? Yep, that's covered in the book, too.

This book was a necessary, if for no other reason than to update some errors in the previous book. Not wishing to campaign for or against the fair tax, I'll point out what I think are simple errors by the authors.

Updating their previous work, they addressed the "urban legend" that employees could both keep their entire paycheck, and that prices would drop, on average, 22 percent, virtually offsetting the Fair Tax. They correctly pointed out that Dr. Jorgenson's work about embedded taxes indicated that for prices to drop 22 percent, the employer would retain the Medicare, FICA and federal withholding taxes. In other words, you'd only get your same net pay, not your gross pay. The authors also pointed out they think there will be strong resistance to this; therefore, they predicted a smaller price decrease. They also pointed out that Dr. Jorgenson's estimate of 22 percent decrease was for the producer of finished goods, not necessarily a corresponding 22 percent drop in retail pricing.

It could be pointed out here that the authors, more than anyone else, started this "urban legend", but that would be an error, corrected, from the first book. What they do not do is give us an estimate on how much of the price reduction promised through elimination of embedded taxes was based on these payroll taxes. 10%? 20%? We don't know.

An error in logic that I believe the authors made was in talking about housing. Pointing out that about 3 in 4 homes purchased today are "used", they state, correctly according to the plan, that the Fair Tax would not charged on these purchases. I think their failure is to recognize that the Fair Tax will have a considerable impact on the pricing of homes. A buyer looking at two identical homes, same builder, one new, one a year old. The new home is going for $250,000, Fair Tax embedded in the price. Now do you think the owner of the used one is going to start his price at $192,500, the new value less the Fair Tax? Nope. Buyers will depreciate homes in their own minds (and for that matter, any used item) but will look at total costs, not whether a tax in collected or not. $230,000 is a more likely price.

I also think the authors error when they talk about the current, progressive, income tax rates. On a couple of occasions they state that the average earner falls in the 25% tax bracket. Late in the book, when talk about a fictionalized nation switching from the Fair Tax to our current income tax, they state that "under the grand new scheme", you pay 10% of your earnings on your first $15,600; 15% from there to $63,699; 25%...and so forth. The footnote states this is taken from the 2007 tax schedule for a couple filing jointly. I don't know why they made such a simple error, but they simply didn't take into account that the standard deduction alone is $10,700, and that they'd have at least $6,800 more for two depends (at least). Their first $17,500 won't be taxed at all. The next dollars will then be 10%, and so on.

Errors aside, the general concept of the Fair Tax make it an important read, although you must be ready to wade through a considerable amount of cheerleading to get to the issues.

The following review was posted By "Fed Up With Liars" (Everywhere, USA)

I would like to take the time to answer some of her concerns.

"These issues are from a housewife-who-already-buys-used, not an ivory tower economist, and therefore aren't addressed in this book or on any of the multitudes of web pages regarding FairTax:

1. Depreciation--when as item is going from "new" status to "used" status, how does one calculate the used item market value for such things as yard sales, thrift stores, and auctions? Will FairTax affect the Kelley or NADA value of used cars?

2. Those pesky unseen non-payroll taxes--Are the taxes on cigarettes, gas, booze, and all the various fees, levies, and licenses covered under this plan, or are these taxes going to be raised to cover the FairTax loss difference? What about personal property taxes in some states for cars, computers, and TVs?

3. What is there to stop Congress from raising the FairTax level from 23/30% to somewhere closer to European tax levels of 80-90%?

4. What about gambling, pay phones, pay toilets, vending machines, and lottery tickets? I see a possibility for double-taxation on lottery tickets, gambling, AND the winnings they might produce.

5. Are internet purchases included?

6. What about trade, commerce, and the obviously resulting backlog of new items that will pile up at ports and points of origination (all the way back to the raw materials phase) as a result of all our new-found frugality? With nobody buying new items, where is the incentive to create and produce them?

7. Isn't this just a grand scheme to target our purchases, and a back-door way to federally-forced frugality? What about freedom of choice?

8. Are we going to have to keep track of every purchase we make to determine whether it was bought BEFORE or AFTER the tax plan before we re-sell the items? What about auctions, and thrift stores, food banks, and other "donation-run" organizations who will now have to ask questions of each and every donor before accepting merchandise?

9. How will this tax plan affect employer benefits? Are health insurance premiums and other employer-paid benefits going to go up as a result?

10. How will this plan impact the buying and selling of securities? Will each buy become a taxable event? How does one buy "used" securities to avoid the tax?

The book itself is a good read, but I was looking for answers to questions that may be a little too low-brow for the creators of this plan. I'm going to write to Congressman John Linder of Georgia to see if he can help me out. Writing to Neal Boortz was less than useful--he never responds."

1. Depreciation. This no longer exists as there are no corporate taxes. As far as Kelly Blue book and the like those formula would still apply to calculating a price for a used car.

2. Non-payroll taxes as you have mentioned would still be there on cigarettes, gasoline, liquor, etc. The Fair Tax address payroll taxes, income taxes, corporate income taxes and payroll taxes, death taxes, capital gains taxes, inheritance taxes. Not excise taxes and the like.

3. You with you power to vote them out of office if they try.

4. Most of what you mention has to do with income taxes or corporate taxes. The Fair Tax would be computed into the price of the a phone call from a pay phone or the goods from a vending machine. Gambling winnings currently are taxed as income so you would get all of the winnings tax free now. Losses, well you'll just have to eat those.

5. The bill includes all purchases at the retail level, so I would say yes the Fair Tax will be collected by the seller on Internet purchases from sellers in the U.S.

6. There will always be people purchasing new items, how can you think they wouldn't? True a lot of people, especially those who try to duck paying income taxes will attempt to by pass the Fair Tax system, but at some point they will need or want some hot new item and purchase it. Especially when they figure out that April 15th is just another spring day.

7.You have that choice. Buy or don't buy, it's your choice. You want to save that extra money you now have, go ahead.

8. What? If it's not new then it's used. If you don't pay anything for it because it's a charity giving it to you, what tax would there be and to whom?

9. How are they effected currently? They have nothing to do with federal taxes what so ever. The premium you pay includes any corporate income tax so that will be replaced by the Fair Tax and you'll never know the difference.

10. Securities are exempt from the Fair Tax as the Fair Tax is designed to allow you to invest tax free.

If you would have read the first book you would have known that and all the rest of what you asked.