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Bob Barr on Tax Reform
Libertarian nominee for President; Former Republican Representative (GA-7)
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New tax revolt: both reduce and simplify taxes
Thirty years ago this week California voters passed Proposition 13, “inspiring an entire generation of advocates of individual liberty and limited government,” notes Bob Barr. It was a true people’s revolt against the entire political establishment
--politicians, lobbyists, interest groups, and unions.“We need a similar popular revolt today,” says Barr. Tax Freedom Day wasn’t until April 23 this year, meaning that on average Americans spent almost four months just to pay their taxes.
That isn’t the end of the burden: “it also took six billion hours to comply with Uncle Sam’s dictates,” notes Barr.
“We must both reduce and simplify taxes,” he adds. That could mean replacing the income tax with a consumption tax.
It could mean a low, flat income tax. But, he emphasizes, “the bottom line is that taxes are too high and too complex. It’s time for Americans to say that they are mad and aren’t going to take it anymore, just like they did in California 3 decades ago.”
Source: Press Release, “New Tax Revolt”
Jun 5, 2008
Lower taxes by dramatically cutting back size of government
Q: You’re basically not an anti-government guy, but certainly a limited government guy, right? And that applies all the way to taxes, government spending and the like. Will that be palatable in a year people are looking to rescues and bailouts and that
sort of thing?A: I think it will be. The Libertarian message of smaller government means much lower taxes--a new tax system, ultimately, dramatically cutting back the size and the power of the government, whether it’s here or spending
$400 million a day of taxpayer monies in Iraq. These are pocketbook issues. And the Libertarian philosophy, the programs that we’ll be putting forward will be very relevant to voters from across the political spectrum, because everybody’s hurting.
Everybody’s standard of living is going down, as the standard of living for the government is going up. We aim to reverse that.
Source: 2008 Fox News interview: “Your World” with Neil Cavuto
May 27, 2008
The FairTax replaces the IRS plus payroll taxes
Cutting spending would allow America to implement real tax reform. The best approach would be to adopt a national sales tax, replacing the Internal Revenue Service and all federal income taxes as well as payroll taxes.
The Fair Tax is an example of a well-researched alternative to the current oppressive system of taxation. Our goal should be to reduce both the tax burden on Americans and the intrusion in their lives resulting from IRS enforcement of the income tax.
Source: Campaign website, www.bobbarr2008.com, “Issues”
Apr 22, 2008
Repeal the 16th amendment & eliminate the income tax
It is not enough to eliminate the income tax. We also must repeal the 16th amendment, which authorizes Congress to levy an income tax.
Without doing so, there would be an ever-present danger that a future Congress would attempt to bring back the income tax on top of the Fair Tax or any other alternative to the income tax.
Source: Campaign website, www.bobbarr2008.com, “Issues”
Apr 22, 2008
Voted YES on $99 B economic stimulus: capital gains & income tax cuts.
Vote to pass a bill that would grant $99.5 billion in federal tax cuts in fiscal 2002, for businesses and individuals.The bill would allow more individuals to receive immediate $300 refunds, and lower the capital gains tax rate from 20% to 18%.
Bill HR 3090
; vote number 2001-404
on Oct 24, 2001
Voted YES on Tax cut package of $958 B over 10 years.
Vote to pass a bill that would cut all income tax rates and make other tax cuts of $958.2 billion over 10 years. The bill would convert the five existing tax rate brackets, which range from 15 to 39.6 percent, to a system of four brackets with rates of 10 to 33 percent.
Reference: Bill sponsored by Thomas, R-CA;
Bill HR 1836
; vote number 2001-118
on May 16, 2001
Voted YES on eliminating the Estate Tax ("death tax").
Vote to pass a bill that would gradually reduce revenue by $185.5 billion over 10 years with a repeal of the estate tax by 2011.
Reference: Bill sponsored by Dunn, R-WA;
Bill HR 8
; vote number 2001-84
on Apr 4, 2001
Voted YES on eliminating the "marriage penalty".
Vote on a bill that would reduce taxes for married couple by approximately $195 billion over 10 years by removing provisions that make taxes for married couples higher than those for two single people. The bill is identical to HR 6 that was passed by the House in February, 2000.
Reference: Bill sponsored by Archer, R-TX;
Bill HR 4810
; vote number 2000-392
on Jul 12, 2000
Voted YES on $46 billion in tax cuts for small business.
Provide an estimated $46 billion in tax cuts over five years. Raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour over two years. Reduce estate and gift taxes, grant a full deduction on health insurance for self-employed individuals, increase the deductible percentage of business meal expenses to 60 percent in 2002, and designate 15 renewal communities in urban rural areas.
Reference: Bill sponsored by Lazio, R-NY;
Bill HR 3081
; vote number 2000-41
on Mar 9, 2000
Reduce the capital gains tax .
Barr co-sponsored the Capital Gains Tax Reduction Act:
Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide maximum rates of tax on capital gains of 15 percent for individuals and 28 percent for corporations and to index the basis of assets of individuals for purposes of determining gains and losses.
Source: House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR15 on Jan 3, 2001
Phaseout the death tax.
Barr co-sponsored the Death Tax Elimination Act:
Title: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to phaseout the estate and gift taxes over a 10-year period.
Summary: Repeals, effective January 1, 2011, current provisions relating to the basis of property acquired from a decedent. Provides with respect to property acquired from a decedent dying on January 1, 2011, or later that:- property shall be treated as transferred by gift; and
- the basis of the person acquiring the property shall be the lesser of the adjusted basis of the decedent or the fair market value of the property at the date of the decedent's death.
- Requires specified information to be reported concerning non-cash assets over $1.3 million transferred at death and certain gifts exceeding $25,000.
- Makes the exclusion of gain on the sale of a principal residence available to heirs.
- Revises current provisions concerning the transfer of farm real to provide that gain on such
exchange shall be recognized to the estate only to the extent that the fair market value of such property exceeds such value on the date of death.
- Provides a similar rule for certain trusts.
- Amends the special rules for allocation of the generation-skipping tax (GST) exemption to provide that if any individual makes an indirect skip during such individual's lifetime, any unused portion of such individual's GST exemption shall be allocated to the property transferred to the extent necessary to make the inclusion ratio for such property zero; and
- if the amount of the indirect skip exceeds such unused portion, the entire unused portion shall be allocated to the property transferred.
- Provides that, if an allocation of the GST exemption to any transfers of property is deemed to have been made at the close of an estate tax inclusion period, the value of the property shall be its value at such time.
Source: House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR8 on Mar 14, 2001
Repeal marriage tax; cut middle class taxes.
Barr signed the Contract with America:
[As part of the Contract with America, within 100 days we pledge to bring to the House Floor the following bill]:
The American Dream Restoration Act:
A $500-per-child tax credit, begin repeal of the marriage tax penalty, and creation of American Dream Savings Accounts to provide middle-class tax relief.
Source: Contract with America 93-CWA7 on Sep 27, 1994
Page last updated: Feb 08, 2010