'Fair Tax' backer speaks in Hancock
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
By: Garrett Neese

originally published in the Mining Gazette

HANCOCK — An official with an organization attempting to get a “fair tax” proposal on the state’s ballot spoke to a crowd of about 10 in Hancock Tuesday.

Ron Babin, deputy director of the Michigan FairTax Association, spoke at Nutini’s Supper Club and Cocktail Lounge about the proposal, which aims to replace the Michigan Business Tax, Personal Property Tax, 6-mill School Education Tax and state income tax with a 9.75 percent sales tax. The state’s sales tax is currently at 6 percent.

To avoid making the tax regressive, Babin said, all Michigan residents would receive a monthly rebate worth 9.75 percent of the poverty level (for a single person, 9.75 percent of $10,400).

“It’s fair and evenly applied,” he said. “You choose how much you want to consume.”

The group needs to gather 381,000 signatures by July 7 to get the proposal on the November ballot, 10 percent of the voters who cast a ballot in the 2006 gubernatorial race.

Babin said the new tax is less complicated, as it makes taxes visible on receipts instead of hidden in the price of goods. Of the approximately 6,600 pages of the IRS tax code, he said, only a handful deal with tax brackets. The rest, he said, deal with definition of income.

Other efforts have called for that kind of simplicity, notably 1996 Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes’ push for a 17 percent “flat tax.” Unlike that one, Babin said, the fair tax’s rebate makes allowances for low-wage earners.

“Consumption should be the key,” he said. “That’s what you benefit from. Not earnings. Not income.”

Detractors of the proposal have argued, among other things, that by eliminating the Single Business Tax, it will shift some taxes from out-of-state companies onto Michigan residents.

Mark Ervin of Pelkie came to see State Rep. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, who was billed as being at the session. Despite Casperson’s absence, Ervin was pleased with the presentation.

“I thought (Babin) spoke very well,” he said. “He covered a lot of bases. He was thorough and comprehensive.”

For more information, go to http://www.mifairtax.org/


Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com

Originally published at http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=11364