I am hoping to gain some insight into the 'Fair Tax' and it's potential effects on the environment and environmental legislation. I have heard the argument that by heavily taxing new products but imposing no tax on used goods, an incentive is created to reuse and to buy more durable products. However, I have yet to fully understand what would be the fate of many environmental laws that rely on tax breaks and penalties as incentives for compliance. This is the basis of much of our current environmental legislation and the 'fair tax' seems to take away this sort of accountability from polluters.
I have heard this come up in presidential campaigning and it seems to have the potential to 'sweep voters off their feet' with promises of no income taxes in the future, but I hope that we would not be compromising the important functions of income tax in this new tax structure. Does anyone have significant knowledge about the 'fair tax' and the environmental pros and cons of adopting it? Thanks for your thoughts. Wes Bickford
