Reps. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.), and Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) announced the resolution on March 8, saying they instead favor a tax cut to benefit the middle class.
“A tax increase on gas, groceries and other essential items would be disastrous for Illinois seniors and working families, who already are struggling to make ends meet,” Sorenson said.
Sales taxes are believed to disproportionately affect people of modest means because they spend a higher proportion of their income on consumer goods.
“The Republican national sales tax proposal would be devastating for families as it increases the burden on lower-income folks while benefiting only the wealthy,” said Pettersen.
“I hear from Coloradans nearly every day who are struggling just to get by, so the last thing we should do is pass policy to hurt them and further increase the wealth gap—especially when gas prices are high, inflation is still up, and health care costs are astronomical.”
According to the resolution, the average yearly grocery bill would increase by $3,500 if the tax were enacted. The cost of a car would rise by $10,000 and of a home by $125,000.
“A 30 percent sales tax would be a disaster for working families and individuals in North Carolina who are already dealing with high gas prices, exorbitant housing costs, and rising costs of everyday goods and services,” said Nickel.
Nickel said both parties should work to pass a reasonable tax cut for working families while increasing taxes on “the ultra-wealthy and billion-dollar corporations.”
The national sales tax proposal, dubbed the Fair Tax, has 25 Republican sponsors. The Fair Tax would simultaneously eliminate the income tax, abolish the IRS, and impose a 23 percent sales tax on “the use or consumption in the United States of taxable property or services.” The rate would be adjusted in later years.
Proponents of the idea say it would result in a simpler, fairer tax system.
Critics point out that because the Fair Tax is calculated as a percentage of the cost of goods or services purchased, the tax would increase with every rise in prices, even if wages remained the same.
The resolution put forward by Sorensen, Nickel, and Pettersen, in addition to condemning the Fair Tax, opposes any tax cuts by reducing Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits, or cutting the pay and benefits of members of the military, veterans, or law enforcement officers.
