One of the reasons illegal immigration is bad is that most of the illegals don't pay taxes even though they use services - like roads; utilities; schools; and hospitals. They drain the public coffers and effectively cause tax rates (to citizens who do pay taxes) to be higher than they might otherwise be.
If instead of a "progressive" federal income tax we had a national sales tax (of let's say... 15%) then ALL illegals would have to pay taxes - they could not evade them. (WHAT IS MORE: this would effectively REDUCE the "take-home-pay" of the illegals and reduce the incentive they have to accept lower pay, and it would pressure employers who exploit illegals to pay them more; this in turn would put pressure on employers to raises wages for everyone.) To lessen the burden on poor citizens the federal government could send a refund to poor people amounting to 100% of their national sales tax; for instance a person earning $25,000 could get a refund of $3750.
Since illegals could NOT file for a refund, they be FORCED to contribute money back to the nation they currently give only their sweat to; (they send money OUT of the country - effectively "taxing" themselves to the benefit of other nations, notably Mexico: illegal immmigrants sending dollars back there are the SECOND leading source of income for Mexico (after petroleum).
Realistically, for a national sales tax to generate enough revenue for the federal budget it would either have to be about 20% on retail sales, or we'd have to tax more things than just retail. A 5% tax on EVERY TRANSACTION would generate enough - but taxing wholesale sales and stock purchases (as opposed to a tax merely on gains/profits) might be impossible to achieve. It's more likely that Congress passes tax reform bill which combines a low, flat income tax and a low, flat retail sales tax. This would only alleviate the illegal immigrant free-ride, noty eliminate it.
If instead of a "progressive" federal income tax we had a national sales tax (of let's say... 15%) then ALL illegals would have to pay taxes - they could not evade them. (WHAT IS MORE: this would effectively REDUCE the "take-home-pay" of the illegals and reduce the incentive they have to accept lower pay, and it would pressure employers who exploit illegals to pay them more; this in turn would put pressure on employers to raises wages for everyone.) To lessen the burden on poor citizens the federal government could send a refund to poor people amounting to 100% of their national sales tax; for instance a person earning $25,000 could get a refund of $3750.
Since illegals could NOT file for a refund, they be FORCED to contribute money back to the nation they currently give only their sweat to; (they send money OUT of the country - effectively "taxing" themselves to the benefit of other nations, notably Mexico: illegal immmigrants sending dollars back there are the SECOND leading source of income for Mexico (after petroleum).
Realistically, for a national sales tax to generate enough revenue for the federal budget it would either have to be about 20% on retail sales, or we'd have to tax more things than just retail. A 5% tax on EVERY TRANSACTION would generate enough - but taxing wholesale sales and stock purchases (as opposed to a tax merely on gains/profits) might be impossible to achieve. It's more likely that Congress passes tax reform bill which combines a low, flat income tax and a low, flat retail sales tax. This would only alleviate the illegal immigrant free-ride, noty eliminate it.
MORE ON TAX REFORM HERE - AT OTB; AND ALSO AT FAIRTAX.ORG.
You should check out the Fair Tax proposal. http://www.fairtax.org/
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