Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Fair Tax argument of the day

So I was booking my flight to Germany on a popular traveler's website, and this summary came up:

Travelers Price

1 adult = $ 630.00
Taxes and Fees = $ 259.20
Service Fee = $ 5.00
Total Price = $ 894.20

Consider those taxes and fees. Those are not the website's fees, those are government-imposed fees that add up to 29% of the price of the ticket as calculated exclusively. Inclusively calculated, it's clear that this 41.1% tax is well beyond the 23% exclusive/30% inclusive tax that some of our legislators have proposed in the Fair Tax bill. Basically, in this situation the Fair tax would not only keep me from throwing a healthy fraction of my paycheck into the boondoggle that we call the IRS, it would also save me on the sales tax of my purchase.

Once the airlines were released from paying payroll taxes, the price of this flight would likely come down to around $500, assuming a 20% reduction in labor costs (which is the average estimate based on extensive university research). Note that the price of all goods would come down due to the reduced tax burden on those who create jobs. Basically, we'll stop punishing our employers for hiring Americans.

I am more Metal than you.

While in Germany, I'm going to catch a show by a little band that some of us may remember as DOWN. Yeah, I'll be rocking out Nola-style with Phil (Pantera), Pepper (CoC), Rex (Pantera), Kirk (Crowbar), and Jimmy (Eyehategod) in the motherland. Traveling halfway across the world to catch your favorite band and drink the best beer on earth = METAL.

2 comments:

BigNewsDay said...

Your a lucky bastard. I expect a full review promptly upon return.

Darkness Descends said...

I'm jealous. Down rules!