Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) voiced support for tax reform legislation on Thursday that would replace the current federal tax code with a national sales tax.
Crenshaw, the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, is an original cosponsor of the Fair Tax Act of 2013.
“Every year Americans negotiate 70,000 pages of costly and complex tax code and spend roughly $265 billion and 6.1 billion hours filling out tax forms,” Crenshaw said. “This amount of time and money can be better spent on growing the economy and creating jobs. Implementing a fair tax would help.”
Under the measure, a national sales tax on goods and services would be administered primarily by states, Crenshaw said, and the IRS would no longer be needed.
The bill would also eliminate federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes.
“The (Fair Tax Act) protects the poor and treats everyone equally; no exemptions, no exclusions, no advantages,” Crenshaw said. “People would be allowed to keep their entire paycheck and spend hard-earned dollars on ways that best suit them. On the business side of the equation, labor costs (would be) lowered by eliminating payroll taxes, allowing companies to hire more workers.”
The Fair Tax Act was sponsored by Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) and has 74 cosponsors. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.