I'm only part way through reading a second book about the FairTax, and already I have found a few things that are surprising and, at the very least, informative:

• Most of us work until nearly May just to satisfy our tax obligations to our federal, state, and local governments.  For that reason the Tax Foundation calls April 30 Tax Freedom Day.
• The legalese of H.R. 25, the bill that proposes the FairTax in the House is 133 pages.  That sounds like a lot (not really), but it pales in comparison to the over 67,000 pages of our current tax code.
• In 1989 the IRS reported that 31% of the answers that its staff gave out over the phone to taxpayers were wrong.  Did they improve after that study?  In 2003 they topped that number.  Treasury Department investigators posing as taxpayers reported that 43% of the answers they received were wrong.
• According to the IRS the top 1% of income earners paid 36.89% of the income tax in 2004.  Sounds like those evil rich people may actually be starting to pay their fair share doesn't?  But look at this:  The top 50% of income earners carried 96.70% of the tax burden.  In other words, half the people in this country are only responsible for about 3% of the federal income tax.  Of those 50%, how many do you think actually paid any taxes at all?  Sound fair?
• If your family's AGI, Adjusted Gross Income (that number at the bottom of p. 1 of your 1040), is over $100,000, then you are among the wealthiest 10% of income earners who pay over 68% of the tax burden.

April 15th - Make it Just Another Day.
www.FairTax.org