- A South Carolina senator dissatisfied with the results
of a Bush advisory panel's recommendations on tax reform is set to introduce
a bill to abolish federal income tax in favor of a levy on business transactions.
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- Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., told the New York Sun he would
put his plan before the Senate tomorrow. The proposal calls for an end
to all personal income taxes and the attendant bevy of related taxes, deductions
and exemptions, including the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax.
The plan would eliminate the need for Americans to file income tax returns.
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- The president's panel, led by former Sens. Connie Mack
and John Breaux, issued two proposals to reform parts of the tax code,
but it didn't go far enough for many tax-reform activists.
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- DeMint told the paper the recommendations were "not
the real reform we need."
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- "With the panel endorsing small changes," DeMint
added, "I felt it necessary to get my plan for comprehensive reform
out as quickly as possible."
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- According to the Sun report, the DeMint plan, which is
co-sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., includes an 8.5 percent federal
retail sales tax on all new goods and services. Corporate income taxes
would be replaced by an 8.5 percent business transfer tax charged during
purchases of supplies or equipment.
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- Senate staff members tell the paper the 8.5 percent figure
had been determined after consultation with economists to assure the proposal
would remain revenue-neutral.
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- Under the plan, every American living below the federal
poverty level would get a rebate for 8.5 percent of poverty-level income
which, for a family of four, is about $19,000 a year, the paper reported.
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- "There is a growing urgency and consensus that the
tax code is killing our ability to compete in the global economy,"
DeMint is quoted as saying. "It's as if we have huge signs on our
beaches saying, 'Take Your Business Somewhere Else!'
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- "Tax reform has never been more relevant."
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- http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47036
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