Randall Hoven
"The rich just don't have enough money. You either have to tax more of the income distribution or find other sources of revenue." Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Urban Institute. "There is a growing awareness of the need for fundamental tax reform. I think a VAT and a high-end income tax have got to be on the table." Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND).
it never worked in other countries. it creates cronyism and corruption because large companies have to cozy up to the government to avoid being leached to death for every part of production they do. Here is what Obama says:
"I know that there's been a lot of talk around town lately about the value-added tax. That is... something that has worked for some countries. It's something that would be novel for the United States. And before, you know, I start saying 'this makes sense or that makes sense,' I want to get a better picture of what our options are."
VAT is a sign of a 3rd world economy or a sign that we are headed there.
Value added tax (VAT) is similar to a sales tax. Maurice Lauré, Joint Director of the French Tax Authority, the Direction générale des impôts, was first to introduce VAT on April 10, 1954, although German industrialist Dr. Wilhelm von Siemens proposed the concept in 1918. Initially directed at large businesses, it was extended over time to include all business sectors. In France, it is the most important source of state finance, accounting for nearly 50% of state revenues.
Personal end-consumers of products and services cannot recover VAT on purchases, but businesses are able to recover VAT (input tax) on the products and services that they buy in order to produce further goods or services that will be sold to yet another business in the supply chain or directly to a final consumer. In this way, the total tax levied at each stage in the economic chain of supply is a constant fraction of the value added by a business to its products, and most of the cost of collecting the tax is borne by business, rather than by the state. VAT was invented because very high sales taxes and tariffs encourage cheating and smuggling. Critics point out that it disproportionately raises taxes on middle- and low-income homes.
via en.wikipedia.org
