The FairTax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS | 
 enlarge | Authors: Neal Boortz, John Linder
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1535 reviews
Sales Rank: 282650
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9
Dewey Decimal Number: 336.24150973
ASIN: B000UENRO2
Publication Date: August 1, 2005
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Product Description
Wouldn't you love to abolish the IRS ...
Keep all the money in your paycheck ...
Pay taxes on what you spend, not what you earn ...
And eliminate all the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system? Then the FairTax is for you. In the face of the outlandish American tax burden, talk-radio firebrand Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder are leading the charge to phase out our current, unfair system and enact the FairTax Plan, replacing the federal income tax and withholding system with a simple 23 percent retail sales tax on new goods and services. This dramatic revision of the current system, which would eliminate the reviled IRS, has already caught fire in the American heartland, with more than six hundred thousand taxpayers signing on in support of the plan. As Boortz and Linder reveal in this first book on the FairTax, this radical but eminently sensible plan would end the annual national nightmare of filing income tax returns, while at the same time enlarging the federal tax base by collecting sales tax from every retail consumer in the country. The FairTax, they argue, would transform the fearsome bureaucracy of the IRS into a more transparent, accountable, and equitable tax collection system. Among other benefits, it will: - Make America's tax code truly voluntary, without reducing revenue
- Replace today's indecipherable tax code with one simple sales tax
- Protect lower-income Americans by covering the tax on basic necessities
- Eliminate billions of dollars in embedded taxes we don't even know we're paying
- Bring offshore corporate dollars back into the U.S. economy
Endorsed by scores of leading economists and supported by a huge and growing grassroots movement, the FairTax Plan could revolutionize the way America pays for itself. In this straight-talking book, Neal Boortz and John Linder show you how it would work—and how you can help make it happen.
Download Description
"Wouldn't you love to abolish the IRS ...
Keep all the money in your paycheck ...
Pay taxes on what you spend, not what you earn ...
And eliminate all the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system? Then the FairTax is for you. In the face of the outlandish American tax burden, talk-radio firebrand Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder are leading the charge to phase out our current, unfair system and enact the FairTax Plan, replacing the federal income tax and withholding system with a simple 23 percent retail sales tax on new goods and services. This dramatic revision of the current system, which would eliminate the reviled IRS, has already caught fire in the American heartland, with more than six hundred thousand taxpayers signing on in support of the plan. As Boortz and Linder reveal in this first book on the FairTax, this radical but eminently sensible plan would end the annual national nightmare of filing income tax returns, while at the same time enlarging the federal tax base by collecting sales tax from every retail consumer in the country. The FairTax, they argue, would transform the fearsome bureaucracy of the IRS into a more transparent, accountable, and equitable tax collection system. Among other benefits, it will: - Make America's tax code truly voluntary, without reducing revenue
- Replace today's indecipherable tax code with one simple sales tax
- Protect lower-income Americans by covering the tax on basic necessities
- Eliminate billions of dollars in embedded taxes we don't even know we're paying
- Bring offshore corporate dollars back into the U.S. economy
Endorsed by scores of leading economists and supported by a huge and growing grassroots movement, the FairTax Plan could revolutionize the way America pays for itself. In this straight-talking book, Neal Boortz and John Linder show you how it would work -- and how you can help make it happen. "
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1530 more reviews...
 The dumbest book in the history of tax ideas July 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
There are many reasons this book is essentially worthless:
1. No corporate taxes? Great, I'll just create a corporation and buy everything I want through it. Anyone who knows this will never pay another dime in taxes again, and the federal government will be bankrupted.
2. The author talks about banning the income tax, but doesn't talk about what will happen to citizens that have already paid taxes to the government to generate a tax free income stream in retirement (Roth and After-Tax accounts). His idea would punish some of those that have planned ahead for retirement.
3. The book explains how the IRS should be abolished, yet doesn't say who would go about collecting taxes. (Note: look up the author's history with the IRS)
4. The idea of taxing food and writing a check for every single American every month to make up for that tax is so stupid I wasn't sure if it was a joke or not.
 GREAT IDEA! July 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a GREAT idea! Do not be fooled by some false negative reviews by idiots on here, most of whom have not even read the book!
Read 'Answering the Critics' for more info and clarity.
Lets get politicians on board!
I'm... a little confused. June 25, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Admittedly I have not read this book cover to cover yet. I skipped right to the chapter that explains how the FairTax code would work, and I looked at some other chapters briefly to get a gist of what the authors had to say generally. So here are some thoughts based on that.
First off, how is it an invasion of privacy for us to file tax returns with the IRS, but not an invasion of privacy for me to tell the government the makeup of my household, complete with Social Security numbers, so they can send me the proper amount of "prebate"? I don't even have to give that much information on a census form; why would I want to do it for this? So, protecting one's privacy is a stupid reason to do away with the IRS.
Secondly, who says prices would drop if the tax code were radically changed? I only ever see prices drop when something goes on sale. Now, prices might start out lower when a product is introduced because overhead was lower to begin with, but they go up after that; it's almost a law of physics. People want to make money, and far too many people want to make far too much money at the expense of others. I don't like what that says for the potential of this plan to drive up prices to ridiculous levels.
Thirdly, the prebate system is a decent idea--beats the hell out of "helping" Americans afford something through tax credits, which you can only take once a year--but it's based on the government deciding what constitutes basic necessities and how much they should cost. If we can't trust the government for any other reason--and Boortz is a libertarian and surely believes we can't--how can we trust the government to accurately calculate basic cost of living?
I mean, really, take groceries for example. The government in its infinite wisdom has decided that whole grain is good for you and meat is bad, despite whatever evidence to the contrary. In its WIC program alone it's decided that women and children need junk food (cereal) and liquid sugar (fruit juice) above and beyond all else. So its idea of what I "need" for groceries is going to mean I'm out of luck if I actually want to feed my family correctly. Yay?
Also, define "new goods and services." Do I have to pay this twenty-three-percent tax on my residence? Does that mean I have to pay extra on top of my rent? But it's probably not a new building I'm living in. However, it would be new to me.
What about, say, eBay sellers? What if I buy a new product to resell on eBay, but haven't used it before I resell it? Is it still new? If so, wouldn't the tax be paid twice? How is that fair?
Furthermore, for all his liberal-bashing (and I consider myself one), I see Boortz has played right into the hands of a debate that I myself find problematic in liberal thinking: to wit, the idea that someone is wealthy because they have high income. That's stupid and Boortz should know better, which is particularly sad since he wants to position liberals as being guilty of class warfare while he's coming from the opposite perspective. No, he's not. Income is not a determinant of wealth. Net worth is. If you're making $100,000 a year and spending $99,999 of it--and some people do--you will not become wealthy no matter how much the tax code changes. People who really want to be wealthy will become so no matter what the tax code says or what politicians do. The fun part is that once you have the wealth, it reduces your effective tax rate because only when money changes hands is it taxed. Someone who makes that $100k a year will be taxed at the marginal rates for that $100k. Someone who HAS $100k is taxed at a far lower rate and only on the interest or dividends, which are much lower than what you'd have to pull in per month to have made $100k in a year. And because they aren't normal employment income, they aren't subject to the same taxes anyway (i.e., Social Security, etc.).
I'm surprised Boortz doesn't say this, but based on some of his other statements, I'm not surprised. As helpless as he is to (1) fill out tax returns, (2) save, or (3) invest thanks to the existence of the IRS, I'm shocked he's capable of putting his pants on right-side out or tying his own shoes. Most of us manage to do these things just fine if we take responsibility for our own behavior. But given Boortz's propensity for shooting off at the mouth and saying phenomenally stupid things on his radio show and in his other books, I wouldn't bet on his ability to take responsibility for his actions. In fact, I wouldn't even credit him with contributing in any way to the idea for this FairTax code--I suspect he only put his name on it because he agrees with it and wants to give it a wider audience through name recognition. It's a shame Congressman Linder couldn't get a wider audience on his own.
Excellent Book! June 15, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is a quick read and gives you an excellent starting point to understanding the FairTax. Boortz and Linder explain how the current tax system began and how it has been transformed into the complete mess that it is now.
The FairTax would be the most massive transfer of power from the politicians in Washington to the people in the history of this country. It would save Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security! Our current system won't do that!
Read this book! You won't be disappointed! The second book is a great read too.
 Panacea Tax or Pandora Tax June 14, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
The old saying applies. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. The FairTax proposal is presented by the authors as beneficial to all US citizens. They present it as a Miracle Tax System, like snake oil presented by traveling salesmen, or green cloth, Holy Soap, or No-evil Oil promoted by Evangelicals.
Economics is the study of tradeoffs. You must lose a positive to gain a positive that you consider more valuable to you. This book on the FairTax refuses to recognize this fundamental definitional idea embedded in any economic or fiscal theory at all.
The book is demogoguery. Since most American readers do not possess critical thinking skills, many will find this manifesto worth reading. Nevertheless, all manifestos are essentially frauds, written by wolves in sheeps' clothing, whether the "Communist Manifesto" by Marx, "Milestones" by Qutb, or this very poorly and sarcastic piece of writing by radical extremists from the far right.
A sophisticated reader will see very shortly the intent of the book. I quote directly. "What (politicians) will lose (with the FairTax) is the ability to raise the sales tax rate (or any taxes) on just one segment of the population (the rich), while trying to curry favor with another segment (the non-rich).
This book pretends to be neutral, but in fact encourages the creation of a new Gilded Age, when "Robber Barons" ruled while most of the Americans suffered under that rule. The serious reader should read up on that period in America.
The key fraudulent assumption is that belief leads to fact. "Everything is possible, if you believe hard enough." That quote is from Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn't grow up. Just because each American may aspire to riches does not imply that any but a few will actually achieve significant wealth.
Beware of the fox who tries to persuade you to let him into your chicken coop, just for a few days. Then, if you don't think this idea is the best you have ever heard, simply ask the fox to leave.
We have tried this idea before, at the time of the Great Depression. It obviously did not work under Herbert Hoover. It will not work with the so-called FairTax. There are sound reasons why the New Deal came into existence, and why it continues to this day.
No matter how wonderful a panacea may be, there is always a dark side. The ancient Greek myth of Pandora shows the way. She was given many wonderful gifts for humanity, including a box. She was warned however not to open it. When she nevertheless did open the box, plagues came out. The FairTax may seem like a Panacea Tax, but beware it is not really a Pandora Tax instead.
I do give the book two stars, rather than one, because it reads very quickly. One can read it in a day, or better, skim it in an hour. The lack of serious data and analysis, the outright distortions of conclusions, the overly sarcastic tone, and the incompetence of the authors to show any economic understanding will entertain serious readers as any farce would.
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