Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., renewed his call to dismantle the Internal Revenue Service and install a national consumption tax instead.
In a guest column for the Daily Caller on Tuesday, Carter said that it's time to jump on the momentum created by President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency by pushing "domestic policies that will uplift the working class."
And that, he said, is his Fair Tax Act.
"I am ready — and have a plan in place — to work in lockstep with the Trump-Vance administration and Department of Government Efficiency to fundamentally change the way our nation collects revenue by building a tax system that is pro-growth, straightforward, and fair," Carter wrote.
Fair Tax Act legislation has surfaced in Congress before, dating to when the proposal was first made in 1999. Carter also presented the Fair Tax Act in 2023.
This Fair Tax Act calls for repealing the current tax code and replacing it with a national consumption tax. It would eliminate the need for the IRS along with stopping all personal and corporate income taxes, the death tax, gift taxes, and the payroll tax, and replace them with a 23% flat sales tax on purchased goods.
"A 23% sales tax is likely to shell shock some people, and rightfully so. However, your income and purchasing power will increase should this proposal take effect," Carter wrote in the column.
"Already, the sticker price of a good or service is marked up by as much as 25% to account for the corporation's tax burden and associated compliance costs. By getting rid of those expenses for businesses, prices at the pump and register will go down as the amount of money hitting your bank account goes up," he added.
Carter told Newsmax earlier this month that a consumption tax is preferred by Americans "because that way they're in charge. They can decide what they want to buy and what they want to pay a tax on."
In his guest column, he acknowledged his plan could be seen as a "radical proposal."
"But, for the single mom who just spent four years under Bidenflation trying to decide between buying gas and buying groceries, this is a lifeline," he wrote.
"It's a new day in America. Let's tax like it," Carter concluded.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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