It costs citizens and businesses about $300 billion every year simply to figure out our taxes!

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." - Helen Keller
Feature: One Month to un-fairtax day

Congratulations! You have three extra days to send in your federal tax returns this April! The most unwonderful time of the year for 2011 falls on April 18th but wouldn’t you like it to be just another spring day? There are many non-seasonal reasons for tax reform and here are some of the top ones:

Tax Rate Control: If you’re sick of Uncle Sam getting a piece of your paycheck before you even see it, you’re not alone. But what choice do you have; working less? It’s another economic distortion caused by our tax code punishing you for finally getting ahead. Want to save, invest or donate? You’re going to pay Congress first. To add insult to injury, tax evasion adds about $2,500 to every tax bill!

- The FairTax lets you control your tax rate by only taxing new goods and services above the poverty line. Pay on what you chose to consume, not produce.

Simplicity: According to the IRS, our current tax code now has 3.8 million words, which would fill 11,045 single-spaced pages! Does anyone understand our tax code or its 579 changes in 2010 alone? Not many Americans, because about 90% of us pay for tax preparation even though only a third bother to itemize! It costs citizens and businesses about $300 billion every year simply to figure out our taxes!

- The FairTax legislation is only 131 pages and it’s as easy as buying a candy bar today. 98% of Americans pay sales taxes without professional help on April 15th – or any day.

Transparency: Find your phone bill and look at all the extra fees and taxes. Don’t you wish you always knew when you were paying a company’s taxes? In fact your phone bill doesn’t even include corporate income and payroll taxes that are often embedded in product prices and passed on to you!

- The FairTax only taxes end consumption so everyone can see the cost of government. Prices no longer have tax costs embedded in them and politicians have one less place to play games.

Are you tired of Washington’s tax games and ready to force real reform? Take up the local impact challenge and maybe next year we can keep our paychecks, not the IRS!

Taxavist.com highlights

- Comparing the FairTax, flat income tax and the current code - "Here's a chart I compiled to contrast how the Fair Tax, a broad based consumption tax [with a universal rebate on taxes paid on the value of goods and services equal to the federal poverty level] stacks up against the current income tax code and the so-called "flat tax" that has been supported by Steve Forbes." - Larry Kanturek

- The effect on immigration - "Don’t forget the impact of foreign dollars for those who visit. After the FairTax is implemented, those visiting and vacationing here will start to contribute to programs previously not impacted like social security, etc. further reinforcing the program(s)." - Roy Urick

Grassroots Spotlight: Volunteers

Virginia volunteers with Roanoke Area FairTax made the most of their town’s huge Saint Patrick’s celebration and turned out in force for the parade! RAFT leader Don Koop reported a lot of applause for the FairTax and was satisfied that a large amount of information was handed to interested citizens. They’re looking forward to welcoming many new volunteers to the cause. Great job guys!

RAFT volunteers

Is someone your FairTax inspiration? Email media@fairtax.org to nominate someone for the spotlight!

FairTax in the News

Financially, it's time for America 2.0 – Houston Chronicle

...We need to take the tools of envy, greed and extortion from politicians, regardless of party. We can do this by eliminating every single bit of the tax code and the IRS. We need a national sales tax. The Fair Tax proposal makes provision for true progressivity. People with less income would carry less of a burden than people with more income. The Fair Tax would tax consumption. It would not tax labor or capital. It would cause those who want to consume their fortunes to pay more in taxes. Those who invested for the future would be doing without and benefiting everyone... It would also give all of us a single "cost of government" number.

Readers say our politicians would never give up their power to determine who pays more taxes and who pays less. The answer to that is simple: Vote against any candidate who will not commit to the Fair Tax proposal. This is what I intend to do with my votes for the rest of my life.

- Scott Burns is a columnist with Universal Press Syndicate

Forget the IRS, just have 23% sales tax on everything – Sun-Sentinel

...A provision in the bill totally untaxes the poor and protects everyone from federal taxes up to the poverty level. It is designed to fund the federal government at present levels and fund Social Security and Medicare in the future.

How can this be, you say? It's really quite simple. It takes the fraud, corruption and favoritism out of the system and collects from everyone — including the underground economy and the 40 million to 50 million yearly visitors to our shores.

What do you think our companies would be doing if there were no more business or corporate taxes, or IRS?

- William T. Reilly, Weston

FairTax Webinar

With Special Topic: How the FairTax lowers the cost of manufacturing and production: A snapshot of the U.S. auto industry

When: Thursday, March 24, 2011

Time: 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central, 6 p.m. Mountain, 5 p.m. Pacific

Where: At your personal computer

Why: To provide an interactive forum for people who cannot get to local meetings to learn about the FairTax and to present special topics that are frequently misunderstood or not generally discussed.

Who: Join Marc Manieri, Americans for Fair Taxation Community Coordinator in the Greater Orlando, Florida area. In their second year now, Marc’s webinars draw national participation from seasoned FairTax supporters as well as those just getting introduced to the FairTax.
Join: To participate, register here. You will receive a confirmation email with instructions for signing in at the time of the webinar and be asked to download GoToWebinar software. For more information contact Larry Walters at repeal_16@earthlink.net.