The Fair Tax Act of 2013 is an alternative tax plan introduced Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga) to the Senate Finance Committee on January 23, 2013. Subsequently Senate bill S. 122 and House bill H.R.25 were written.
The Congressional findings of the 113th Congress in regards to the Federal income tax, which prompted the introduction of this alternative tax plan, found that the present systems of federal taxation retards economic growth thus reducing the living standards of the United States citizens, impedes the International Competitiveness of Industry in the United States, lowers productivity, as well as a host of other negative findings attributed to our current Federal taxation scheme.
Those that supported the introduction of this legislation have the belief that a consumption tax, which is the hallmark of the Fair Tax plan, would have a positive effect on savings and investment thus easing tax compliance resulting in an increase in economic growth and international competitiveness of American industries.
Glen R. Hubbard wrote: “A shift from the current tax system to a broad-based consumption tax is best thought of as a two-step process”. His findings first conclude that most elements of consumption tax reform are consistent with moving to a pure income tax with uniform capital taxation. Once there, to get to a consumption tax the key element of reform would be the replacement of depreciation allowances for physical investment with expensing of capital assets. Both of these points indicate that fundamental income tax reform and consumption tax reform are not significantly different directions in tax reform.
Iana Vladimirova wrote: “As the income gap between the rich and poor widens, Americans have begun to demand reform. The Occupy Wall Street movement is a reflection of the public’s frustration. The lowering of the effective tax rate for the very rich to 18%