Press Release: The Truth About The Everything Tax

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ‘EVERYTHING TAX’

** What Rex Sinquefield and Let Voters Decide don’t want Missouri voters to know **

Kansas City, MO – A review of the rhetoric being used by Rex Sinquefield and his Let Voters Decide organization reveals that a number of their claims and assertions are either misleading or simply inaccurate.

The following is a list of myths being perpetuated by the pro-Everything Tax group and the facts that disprove them.

LET VOTERS DECIDE MYTH:
Sales taxes are the most efficient and stable taxes.
According to No-Income-Tax evangelist Dr. Arthur Laffer, “Sales taxes are far more stable with regard to the economy than are the personal income tax or the corporate income tax.”
[Dr. Arthur Laffer, http://www.letvotersdecide.com/]

FACT I:
Sales taxes are volatile and unpredictable.
A column published at governing.com declares that, “[C]onsumer spending is volatile, and that means sales tax revenue fluctuates a lot. In the early part of the 2000s, that was good for government, because spending was through the roof – fueled in part by easy access to credit cards and credit lines. Now it’s bad for government because spending has fallen through the floor.”
[http://www.governing.com/columns/eco-engines/Long-Term-Remedies-Slumping-Sales-Tax-Revenues.html]

FACT II:
Sales taxes in Missouri have been on the decline.
Missouri sales taxes declined in FY2007 by 0.3 percent, in FY2008 by 1.2 percent, FY2009 by 6.1 percent, and in FY 2010 by 4.5 percent.  Tying Missouri’s budget to a fluctuating revenue source is bad policy.

LET VOTERS DECIDE MYTH:
Tennessee has no income tax.
According to an essay written by Rex Sinquefield, “Tennessee serves as an interesting model for the no-income-tax argument.”
[http://www.letvotersdecide.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/20091218_salesincometaxessay.pdf]

FACT:
Tennessee has an income tax.
Tennessee does, in fact, have an individual income tax.  Individuals and other entities are required to pay 6 percent tax on interest received from bonds and notes and dividends from stock.  That is a tax on income.  In 2008 156,000 households paid $214 million in income tax in Tennessee.  [http://www.tn.gov/revenue/tntaxes/indinc.htm; “Income tax does exist in Tennessee,”http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/mar/08/income-tax-does-exist-in-tenn/]

LET VOTERS DECIDE MYTH:
Tennessee’s tax structure is better for workers.
According to the Let Voters Decide website, ‘Tennessee does not have an income tax, and it is thriving … Both private- and public-sector workers are doing better in Tennessee, where the overall tax burden is just 80 percent of Missouri’s.”  In addition, Let Voters Decide says, “Our neighbors in Tennessee do not have a state income tax, and they are doing better than Missouri in nearly every way.” [http://www.letvotersdecide.com/faq;http://www.letvotersdecide.com/about-lvd]

FACT:
Missouri workers enjoy a higher level of income per person.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Tennessee ranks 39th out of 50 states in income per person with an income level of $35,307.  Missouri, on the other hand, ranks 32nd out of 50 states with an income level of $36,979.
[http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Business/article.php?id=88203; http://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/wages/pi_2010.stm]

LET VOTERS DECIDE MYTH:
The Sinquefield plan protects low-income families.
According to the Let Voters Decide website, “The measure protects low-income families.”
[http://www.letvotersdecide.com/faq]

FACT:
Low-income families and seniors are hit especially hard.
“Sinquefield’s gain would come at the expense of middle- and-low-income households, which would not recoup enough in income tax savings to make up for the cost of a higher sales tax on a greater variety of goods and services. Many seniors would receive no income tax break but would pay much more for daily living purchases.”
[http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/sinqefield-tax-plan-helps-rich-hurts-everyone-else/]

One Responseto “Press Release: The Truth About The Everything Tax”

1. Carl W Peterson says:

   December 9, 2011 at 10:47 pm

   Tennessee has also had higher unemployment than Missouri is 8 out of the last 10 year. Bye-bye to the ‘creates job arguemnet’ for no-income tax. Also take a look at the “Who pays” by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy website. This show the distribution of state and local taxes by income range. It shows that states like Texas with no income tax have the poor paying 12% of their income in state and local while riches 1% pay only 3%
   Carl Peterson

   Reply