[quote=jstoesz]
My personal favorite it to get rid of the income, payroll tax, and corporate income tax etc. and replace it with only a consumption tax like the european VAT applied to all levels of spending corporate and individual equally.
[/quote]

Some questions on how this would work for corporations and families:
– would the cost of labor be taxed… Most corporations spend a good deal on salaries, benefits… would this be taxed? (This is a huge paradigm shift – pretty much the opposite of the current taxation where these costs reduced the taxable income.) Buying new equipment or building a new factory – would that be taxed?
– would *everything* you buy be taxed. So if I buy a CD or a savings bond or a share of stock – it’s taxed. If I buy a house, it’s taxed. If I buy a cup of coffee, or a plane ticket, it’s taxed? How about paying tax on my utilies… since that’s consumption too.

It’s an interesting idea… as long as it’s applied uniformly… but somehow I don’t see this EVERY happening. There would be exclusions for some things, and not for others. I just don’t see how this could ever happen in a fair, consistent manner.