Georgians for the FairTax

In 1994 three Houston businessmen were meeting together for lunch. As was common, they began commiserating about the ridiculousness of the Federal Income tax code. But at this particular lunch, they decided to do something about it and each pledged $1.5 Million as seed money to hire the best tax experts in the country to identify the faults with the current system, to determine what American citizens would like to see in tax reform, and then to design the best system of taxation. With their initial infusion of $4.5 Million, the three went on to raise an additional $17 Million. That money funded focus groups with citizens around the country as well as studies with nationally prominent experts in tax policy. The market research also included telephone surveys, targeted advertising, and measuring website hits from that advertising. All the research was extensive and distinguishes the FairTax from every other tax reform proposal ever put forward. The FairTax is a thoroughly and professionally researched response to the question: "What do the American people want in their tax system?"

Some of the experts funded include:

Professors David Burton and Dan Mastromarco, University of Maryland and The Argus Group

Professor Larry Kotlikoff, Boston University

Stephen Moore, The Cato Institute

Professor Dale Jorgenson, Harvard University

Bill Beach, The Heritage Foundation

Jim Poterba, The National Bureau of Economic Research

Professor George Zodrow, Rice University and the Baker Institute for Public Policy

Professor Joseph Kahn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The final result became a bi-partisan bill sponsored by John Linder (R-GA) and Collin Peterson (D-MN). Originally submitted to the House of Representatives as HR 2525, “The Fair Tax of 1999,” it was recently resubmitted in the 110th Congress as the “Fair Tax Act of 2007.” In January of 2006 an additional $2 million was spent in research to make sure the FairTax legislation was still the best tax replacement solution for our nation's current economic situation. The results showed that it is! These studies make the FairTax the most well-researched tax plan ever.

Recognizing that for the Federal Government to take such a significant step as to eliminate the Income Tax code in favor of a Consumption, or National Sales tax, would require evidence of overwhelming support of the American People, Americans for Fair Taxation was established and has been developing organizations in each of the States to educate people and encourage their support of the FairTax. Since it was founded in 1995, Americans for Fair Taxation has grown to become the largest tax reform organization in the United States with over 700,000 REGISTERED supporters and members. The real number of American support can't be measured except by the growing number of Congressional co-sponsors which is currently the largest number ever achieved by any tax reform legislation. Current list of co-sponsors

» Read a letter from Congressmen Linder and Peterson
» Visit the Americans for Fair Taxation Website
» Visit Congressman Linder's Website
» Visit Congressman Linder's FairTax Website

Georgia's FairTax Action Team is a group of concerned Georgia citizens with the express mission of educating our fellow Georgians about the merit of changing the federal tax system from direct taxation of income to indirect taxation through a national consumption tax as outlined in the HR 25. To learn more about how you can help promote the FairTax click here.

Discussions with focus groups of Americans showed that what citizens want is a tax system that provides Fairness, Simplicity, and Visibility. The FairTax achieves these objectives through:

Simplicity — one rate for everyone; no tax filings
Fairness — is progressive, protecting the poor through a tax rebate on the necessities of life; no loopholes, therefore everyone pays the same rate on every purchase
Visibility — any change in the tax rate shows on every cash register receipt

And in addition, the FairTax produces the following:

It lets every worker keep their entire pay check — no payroll or income taxes

It allows those at/below the poverty level to have zero or negative taxes

It lets retirees keep their full pension or Social Security checks — untaxed

It lets everyone keep their capital gains and investment income — untaxed

It encourages savings and investment — creating greater national growth and productivity

It encourages repatriation of wealth from tax havens providing much needed capital to fuel
the growth of our own economy

It stimulates exports — leading to greater U.S. employment

It stimulates economic growth and job formation

It eliminates gift and inheritance taxes

It taxes spending of gifted and inherited wealth more fairly

It has a lower cost of enforcement

It makes the federal tax rate very visible, and therefore, politically risky to increase

It ends all personal and corporate income tax filings

It eliminates the IRS and frees $8 Billion

It frees the $250 Billion tax accounting/law industry for more productive employment

It eliminates tax loopholes — no filings, no exemptions, no loopholes

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