Editor, Times-Union: In the case of Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Company (175 U.S. 429, aff’d on reh’g, 158 U.S. 601, 1895), the Supreme Court held that unapportioned income taxes on interest, dividends and rents are direct taxes and therefore unconstitutional. Congress, spearheaded by the Democratic Party, passed the 16th Amendment which allows the government to tax income “from whatever source derived.” From assurances that only the very wealthy would pay any income taxes, we have now become burdened with federal tax code that has become too extensive, too complicated and too easy to avoid. Let’s face it: Americans like to cheat on our taxes. A tax on the “wealthy” has exploded to a 54,000-page morass that even the Secretary of the Treasury does not even understand. It is time to replace the IRS and the Federal Income Tax, and it only takes 131 pages. The Fair Tax Act of 2011(H.R. 25) replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with a national retail sales tax on all new goods and services. Under the Fair Tax, you keep your entire paycheck, your entire pension and you only pay a tax on new goods and services at the point of sale. If you buy a good used, the product is tax free because it has been already paid for. The Fair Tax truly makes paying taxes voluntary instead of a government bureaucracy that “promotes voluntary compliance and emphasizing customer satisfaction.” Well, if you have ever been audited by the IRS, I can surmise that you are not satisfied. Some of you may ask if food is taxed. According to some politicians who are against the Fair Tax the answer is yes (hint – Joe Donnelly). In reality, the answer is no because all citizens and all lawful residents will receive a monthly prebate that ensures you can consume tax-free at or beyond the poverty level. For example, if you are family of four, your poverty level is $29,420. The prebate would refund all of your taxes on the necessities and give you a 0 percent effective tax rate. Therefore, with the prebate and wise shopping, you can live tax free without fear of punishment from the government. Others who are against this may think that this is a big tax cut for corporations. Here is a big secret that some politicians, including many who are against the Fair Tax will not tell you; you pay the taxes for every business you visit. From the small businesses in Warsaw to large corporations like Wal-Mart, to car manufacturers like Ford and Chevy, the income taxes that those companies pay is included in the products you buy or the services you pay for. So let us let companies take that money that they would have to normally pay the federal government – and return that to their business for infrastructure upgrades or hiring additional workers. This year, Tax Freedom Day is April 12, where American workers will have to work until that day to meet their federal, state and local tax obligations. With the Fair Tax, Tax Freedom Day would be Jan. 1. Learn the facts, go to www.fairtax.org Gary Eppenbaugh Warsaw, via e-mail
