I was listening to a conservative talk show, the Glenn Beck Show, today and he had a spokesperson for the
APT Tax proposal on the air. The reason that Glenn had him on the show was that this organization is referenced in the new book that Denny Hastert has written, titled "
Speaker".
The irony is that this proposal could be the most progressive tax system that the world has ever seen.
In fact, according to
the study, it proposes to create a system under which "The wealthy carry out a disproportionate share of total transactions and therefore share a disproportionate share of the tax despite it's flat rate structure". The reason that this is the case is that the tax is a flat 0.15 percent tax on
all transactions levied on both parties to the transaction. This would be applied to many transactions that are not taxed under the current system. For example, a 0.15 percent tax would be applied to both parties that partake in sale of titles to property, transfer payments, purchase and sale of stocks and bonds, etc.
I find it very interesting that the Repubs would be getting on board with this study. From all that I can gather, it is not in the best interest of the establishment. I'm actually really in favor of it. If anyone here can tell me why progressives shouldn't be claiming this study as their own, please let me know. Otherwise we have to get Edgar L. Feige, the author of the paper, out on the campaign trail with Kerry as soon as possible.
The Kerry camp can only stand to benefit from adopting this policy into their overall 8 year economic proposal. The hurdle that progressives will have to overcome is that it is an acceptance of the abolition of the IRS, which has been up until now the exclusive domain of neocons and libertarians. But, really, what concept could be less conservative than one that abolishes something right?
If we don't pre-emp this movement we do so at our own risk, in my opinion.
More interesting quotes from the study (bold are my emphasis):
"The APT tax reform will create winners and losers. The greatest beneficiaries will be those
whose current level of taxes are considerably reduced, primarily wage and salary earners with
modest financial asset portfolios.
Those most likely to perceive themselves as losers are individuals and financial institutions closely associated with the business of exchanging property rights in financial assets and those who sell advice concerning legal circumventions of the current tax system...
By eliminating all deductions, exemptions and implicit tax expenditures, the APT tax replaces the complexity and opacity of the current system with comprehensibility and transparency. Elimination of tax expenditures and special interest loopholes reduce incentives for rent seeking tax-lobbying behavior while clarifying tax incidence.
The wealthiest portion of the population executes a disproportionate share of total transactions whereas the percent of transactions undertaken by the poorest members of society is very small relative to their proportion in the population.