FAIRtax Power Radio

With Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy poised to take a look at the IRS in their search for government waste and inefficiency, the FAIRtax Guys thought it would be interesting to take a look at what they might find. So this week, the Guys dig into an article published at factretriever.com that lists “60 Interesting Facts About the IRS”.  Just about every one of them is a testament to why the IRS needs...

It’s been common knowledge for decades that the IRS is the poster child for government waste and inefficiency.  But just how wasteful and inefficient can that agency be? This week, the FAIRtax Guys try to answer that question by looking at a Government Accounting Office report on the subject.  What they found will astound you, but it really shouldn’t surprise you.

When President Trump takes office in January, he will put Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to work ferreting out waste and inefficiency in the federal government.  The new Department of Government Efficiency is really just a Presidential advisory panel with no power to make cuts on its own, but Musk has stated that he thinks he can find $2 trillion that can be cut from the federal budget. The FAIRtax...

Today’s major news media have long abandoned any pretense that they have a responsibility to present the news in a fair and impartial manner.  What passes for “news” today is really reporters and editors trying to bring you around to their way of thinking.  Consequently, it’s no surprise that media outlets emphasize stories, ignore stories and tell only the parts of a story that fit the narrative...

President Trump’s re-election gives us the best chance we’ve ever had to pass the FAIRtax.  This is the first time in history that a US President is on record as wanting to abolish the income tax.  We may not get another golden opportunity like this in our lifetime. This week, AFFT president Steve Hayes joins the FAIRtax Guys to discuss what a second Trump administration means for the FAIRtax and...

Research has shown that more and more Americans don’t trust the media to tell them the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Increasingly, both broadcast and print media outlets are emphasizing stories, ignoring stories and telling only the parts of a story that fit the political narrative they’re trying to push.   Consequently, it’s not surprising that there’s a lot about the FAIRtax...

On several occasions, Donald Trump has said he would like to eliminate the income tax system and use tariffs as the primary means of funding the government.  While it’s encouraging to see a major party Presidential candidate embrace the idea of getting rid of the income tax, are tariffs an appropriate replacement? This week, the FAIRtax Guys take on that question and explain why the FAIRtax would...

On Sunday October 20, the FAIRtax Guys did their annual live show from the studios of WTOB Radio in Winston-Salem, NC. A live show gives the Guys the chance to do something they can’t do on their normal Zoom sessions—take calls and speak directly with listeners.  Almost from the instant the program went on the air, the phone was ringing and it didn’t stop for the entire 30 minutes.

It’s an objection we hear over and over again—"Sales taxes are regressive.  The FAIRtax will be a huge tax break for the rich and it will hurt the poor.”  That may be true for typical sales taxes, but the FAIRtax is NOT like other sales taxes. This week the FAIRtax Guys dig into the research library at fairtax.org and discuss an article written by economist Dr. Karen Walby.  Dr. Walby shows conclu...

Taxes have been a fact of life from the days of the earliest civilizations, and there have been some truly bizarre things within the realm of taxation.  But no tax system the earth has ever seen has been nuttier and more bizarre that the federal income tax system in the United States. This week, the FAIRtax Guys look at an article from 2017 outlining 71 mind blowing facts about taxation.  Not all...

The presidential candidates have come out in favor of exempting certain kinds of income from taxation.  Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris favor not taxing tips.  Trump also favors shielding both Social Security benefits and overtime pay from the income tax. This week, AFFT president Steve Hayes joins the FAIRtax Guys to discuss what these positions mean for the FAIRtax.  If not taxing some kinds...

What is income?  It sounds like a simple question, but when the Internal Revenue Code enters the picture, it gets really complicated really fast. In their weekly look at proposed changes to the tax code, the FAIRtax Guys have run across hundreds of bills that would exempt certain income from taxation or remove that exemption from other kinds of income.  With the FAIRtax, it’s simple.  The FAIRtax...

Ask 50 different tax preparers what a particular family owes in income tax and you’ll get 49 different answers.  With its ever changing myriads of exemptions, deductions, exclusions and credits, it’s impossible to predict what you’ll owe in income taxes.  But with the FAIRtax, a very simple calculation can determine your tax liability with incredible accuracy. This week, John Gaver joins the FAIRt...

IRS Publication 17 is a comprehensive guide designed to help taxpayers fill out their income tax returns correctly.  In reality, it’s 142 pages detailing why the income tax is a hopelessly complicated mess that needs to be thrown out and replaced with the FAIRtax. It’s also Bob Scarborough’s favorite reading material.  (Yeah, right).  Join the FAIRtax Guys as they delve into the latest version of...

Labor unions were spawned when employers imposed oppressive working conditions on their workers.  The Internal Revenue Code has spawned a union of its own in the National Taxpayers Union.  The NTU keeps an eye on Congress and rates its members on how their votes affect the taxpayers’ pockets. This week, the FAIRtax Guys examine the NTU scores for the 26 Congressional representatives who are curren...

Imagine ordering a dish in a restaurant that’s supposed to come with two sides.  But, when your server brings your order, there’s only one.  You’d notice that immediately and insist that she bring your second side.  You want to get everything you paid for. But when you get your paycheck and a big chunk of it is missing, you don’t seem to mind.  You probably don’t even notice that it’s gone.  That’...

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst has uncovered a dirty little secret—there are thousands of people who work for the IRS who collectively owe millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.  With illegal tax evasion standing at around $1 trillion a year, you’d think that the IRS would at least make sure its own workforce was abiding by the law, but that’s clearly not the case. This week, the FAIRtax Guys go over a let...

Kamala Harris has picked up on Donald Trump’s idea of exempting tips from the income tax.    Clearly, both candidates are trying to woo votes from workers in the service industries who rely on tips for their living.  But what happens if you carry that idea even farther and stop taxing income altogether? This week the FAIRtax Guys examine an article published on fairtax.org detailing what happens t...

The FAIRtax would represent a seismic shift in the paradigm of how taxes are collected in this country.  Consequently, there are bound to be questions and criticisms regarding how the FAIRtax would work and the impact it would have on the American taxpayer.  Some are honest, some are rooted in a vested interest in keeping the current income tax system. This week, the FAIRtax Guys conclude their jo...

Over the years, the IRS has been described in a number of different ways.  Kind, understanding and co-operative are not on the list.  Instead, you’ll hear words like unreasonable, vicious, malicious, high-handed and vindictive.  Some have even labeled the agency as a criminal enterprise that operates with a flagrant disregard for the law and without regard for basic human decency. This week, the F...

Social Security and Medicare are two incredibly popular Federal programs that millions of seniors have grown to depend on in their retirement years.  There’s only one problem.  Both are going broke and politicians in both parties have been reluctant to make the tough changes necessary to bring them back to solvency.  No one is going to get re-elected by promising to cut benefits or tighten eligibi...

Since the FAIRtax was introduced into Congress in 1999, one thing has remained consistent.  Economists from both sides of the aisle have been nearly unanimous in their agreement that a consumption tax like the FAIRtax would be much better for the economy than an income tax. This week, the FAIRtax Guys examine chapter 11 of the FAIRtax book in which Boortz and Linder look at what happens to the Ame...

The income tax is ridiculously easy to evade.  The latest estimates say that illegal tax evasion costs the government around $1 trillion a year.  A large part of the evasion problem is the fact that billions of dollars of income goes unreported.  Drug dealers, prostitutes, and those working for cash off the books aren’t subject to withholding and don’t file 1040 forms.  But those people buy things...

The FAIRtax is unlike any other sales tax on the planet in that it does not tax every dollar someone spends.  How can that be when the tax is included in the retail price of all new goods and services?  Enter the FAIRtax prebate. This week, the FAIRtax Guys discuss the most important chapter in the FAIRtax book—Chapter 9, the prebate.  This amazing feature is what makes the FAIRtax a fair tax by e...

In the first six chapters of the FAIRtax Book, authors Boortz and Linder cover a variety of problems with the current income tax system.  This includes topics from withholding to how the income tax inflates the prices of all of the goods and services we buy. Beginning with chapter seven, the focus shifts to the FAIRtax.  This week, the FAIRtax Guys explore the origins of the FAIRtax and begin to e...