Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, and 2008 presidential hopeful, is hoping to gain the support of tax-reform advocates by promoting the Fair Tax, which abolishes the Internal Revenue Service as well as all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes, and replaces them with a single federal retail sales tax.
"I want to be the president of the United States that nails the going-out-of-business sign on the Internal Revenue Service and ends a $10-billion-a-year nightmare called the IRS," Huckabee said. "When the Fair Tax becomes law, it will be like waving a magic wand releasing us from pain and unfairness."
The Fair Tax proposal, which was introduced in 1998, has strong support among the small business community including the National Small Business Association.
However, opponents say Huckabee's proposed rate of 23 percent would actually need to be closer to 30 percent and would encourage people to do more business "off the books."
