Tax Day 2010

As you’re painfully aware, April 15th (Tax Day) is fast approaching. This is the time each year when taxpayers have to pay Uncle Sam an ever-higher bill to fund the government. Americans for Tax Reform is using this opportunity to educate Americans on just how much they pay in taxes and how much they’re likely to pay in future years. 

Obama Attempts to Alter the Terms of his Broken Tax

Obama Allies Continue Laying VAT Groundwork

Despite President Barack Obama’s “firm pledge” not to raise “any form” of taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year, the President’s advisors and Democratic allies continue to float the creation of a Value-Added Tax (VAT).

Click here to view the full timeline. (.pdf)

VAT Facts

 • A value-added tax (VAT) is a type of sales tax which is assessed not just at the retail level, but at every stage of production. A European-style (“credit-invoice”) VAT is embedded within the price of a good itself (“tax rate-intrinsic”).

• Because the VAT is embedded as part of the price of a good (as opposed to an American-style sales tax, which is added onto the price of a good), it tends to be very opaque, and is easily-forgotten by taxpayers.

Click here to see the rest of the Fact Sheet on the Value-Addd Tax. (.pdf)

Fundamental Tax Reform One Bite at a Time

#1 No new tax increases. There are literally dozens of tax increases set to take place in 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. Together, these tax hikes total over $2 trillion in the next decade. The first and most necessary step of tax reform is to do no additional harm. This also means no new types of taxes, like a VAT.

#2 Cut the corporate income tax rate. The U.S. has the highest corporate income tax rate in the developed world (tied with Japan) at 40 percent (federal plus state). In order to get to the European average of 25 percent, the federal rate needs to be cut to 20 percent. Ideally, the corporate rate would match or beat Ireland’s 12.5 percent rate, which is the lowest in the developed world.

#3 Bring the capital gains and dividends tax rate to zero. This can be done in one of two ways. First, the rates could simply be reduced to zero. Alternatively, all savings could receive Roth IRA treatment (no tax on savings yields). These taxes are actually a second layer of tax on savings (retained and distributed after-tax corporate earnings, respectively), so their ideal rate should be zero.

Click here to see the complete list of ATR’s suggestions for fundamental tax reform (.pdf).

Obamacare and Taxes: The Final Tab