General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Blasphemy: a National Sales Tax would be MUCH better than our present or any Income Tax system [View all]Disaffected
(4,554 posts)and, IIRC, Robert Reich has proposed such a scheme.
You are correct in stating a sales tax can also be progressive and, there are many ways of ensuring that.
IMO a wealth tax and a small financial transaction tax would also be a good addition to the mix.
The current income tax system (in both the US and my country Canada) is so complex that few individuals understand it in it's entirety. Wasn't it Jimmy Carter who said the income tax system in the US is a "disgrace to the human race"?
One downside though (and there may well be a workaround I'm not aware of) is impact on the tourism industry i.e. what to charge foreign tourists for goods and services and/or how to rebate the additional costs to them to remain competitive with other countries.
I wonder if similar factors would apply to corporate taxes as well??
Chances of such things happening IMO - pretty much zero. There are far too many vested interests (such as legions of income tax lawyers and accountants and their associated businesses) at play here.