A 23% sales tax on everything you buy:
Earlier Friday, on another topic in Boscawen, N.H., Huckabee said eliminating federal income taxes in favor of a national sales tax would help save Social Security – an odd pitch in a state where residents pay no state income or sales taxes.
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The tax plan Huckabee has proposed, called the “FAIR tax,” would eliminate federal income and investment taxes and replace them with a 23 percent federal sales tax. Even the backers of the tax admit it is unlikely to get through Congress, and other leading GOP candidates have been critical of the idea.
Here’s how the folks in New Hampshire are reacting to such a ingenious schematic that punishes working families hardest:
It’s a tough sell in New Hampshire, where residents do not pay state income taxes or general sales taxes. Scott Sweezey, a programmer at the plant where Huckabee spoke, said he doesn’t know how to make a consumption tax treat people fairly.
“Low-income or retired would pay the same tax as somebody who has a million dollars,” said Sweezey, an independent. “I guess if you don’t buy anything, you don’t pay any sales tax, but if you do buy something, you pay sales tax.”
Worse still, as a proportion of your income, you pay more under Dukakabee’s plan as a low-income or fixed-income family.
Nothing fair about that.