Chairman's Report

The FAIRtax is not a magic wand that will single handedly eliminate the nation's debt problem. But it would be a seismic shift in federal tax policy that would dramatically favor economic growth. AFFT president Steve Hayes runs the numbers in this week's Chairman's Report.

The income tax is ridiculously easy to evade, and the IRS doesn't have the resources to do much about it. A former IRS commissioner admits that the agency loses nearly a trillion dollars a year to illegal evasion. Instead of spending billions of dollars ramping up enforcement efforts, there's a better way to deal with the evasion problem--implement a tax system that by its very nature is extremely difficult to evade. Implement the FAIRtax.

Saving and investing are two of the cornerstones of a healthy, growing economy. So, it makes sense that a tax system should encourage, not penalize, those activities. Unfortunately, the current income tax system does indeed penalize people for putting their money to the best use. The FAIRtax would encourage saving and investing. Find out how in this week's Chairman's Report.

A common criticism of sales taxes is that they are regressive. When low income and high income households pay the same rate, it's the low income household that gets hit the hardest. Dishonest critics often level the same criticism at the FAIRtax. They claim the FAIRtax is a bad idea because it's regressive. In this week's Chairman's Report, AFFT president Steve Hayes explains why this criticism of the FAIRtax is dead wrong and shows how the FAIRtax is actually quite progressive in its application.

When it's explained to them, most people understand the concept of embedded taxes. Just like labor and materials, taxes are a cost of doing business that gets passed on to the consumer. But that's not the only hidden cost that the income tax system imposes on consumers. This week, AFFT president Steve Hayes explains a wickedly insidious way in which the income tax system makes everything we buy more expensive.

The cost of higher education today is staggering. Many families struggle to send just one child to college. Those with more than one child can find the costs overwhelming. This week, AFFT president Steve Hayes shows how the FAIRtax can work on multiple fronts to bring down the cost of higher education.

The FAIRtax was first introduced over 25 years ago. In every Congress since then, the FAIRtax has died in committee without even a hearing. Naysayers claim that the FAIRtax is not politically viable and will never pass. But, as guest writer Jade Walle points out, Americans have a history of achieving the impossible, and there's no reason we can't add the FAIRtax to the list of impossible things that determined Americans have done.

Guest writer Jade Walle turns the clock back to the 15th century for a stunning example of how a simple decision on tax policy can have repercussions that last for generations.

Social Security is rapidly running out of money. If something doesn't change, today's Social Security recipients will face a benefit cut in the neighborhood of 20% within just a few short years. The solution isn't higher taxes, lower benefits, a higher retirement age or more borrowed money. The solution is to change how Social Security is funded. The solution is the pass the FAIRtax.

Labor Day was established in 1894 to honor the value, dignity and sacrifice of American working people. Today, the American tax system takes money from those workers before they can spend a dime supporting themselves and their families. It's time to reverse those priorities and put working families ahead of the government. It's time to pass the FAIRtax.