The FairTax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS

Overview
Neal Boortz and Rep. John Linder present a popular, polemical case for a dramatic overhaul of the federal tax system, advocating replacement of federal income and payroll taxes with a national retail sales tax called the FairTax. The book explains the mechanics of the proposal, offers political and moral arguments against the existing income-tax/IRS apparatus, and makes economic claims about growth, increased freedom, and simplicity. The tone mixes anecdote, policy argument, and campaign-style persuasion aimed at a broad readership rather than academic specialists.

The FairTax Plan
The central proposal is a single, broad-based national retail sales tax imposed at the point of purchase on new goods and services for personal consumption, with businesses serving only as collectors rather than taxpayers. To preserve purchasing power and shield necessities, the plan includes a monthly "prebate" , a tax rebate paid to all households to cover the tax on essential consumption up to the poverty level. The FairTax also calls for repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment powers that underpin the federal income tax, elimination of payroll taxes, corporate income taxes, capital gains taxes, estate taxes, and almost all IRS enforcement and compliance functions.

Economic Rationale and Claimed Benefits
Boortz and Linder argue the FairTax would spur economic growth by removing taxes on savings, investment, and earnings, thereby increasing capital formation, work incentives, and international competitiveness. They portray the plan as transparent and fair because taxes would be visible at the point of sale rather than embedded in paychecks and prices. The authors claim the tax base is broad enough to permit a rate that is revenue-neutral or even pro-growth, and they emphasize expected benefits such as higher take-home wages, simplified filing-free compliance for most households, and reduced evasion through a streamlined system.

Addressing Criticisms
Anticipating common objections, the authors confront charges of regressivity, transition shocks, and questions of revenue sufficiency. The prebate is presented as the mechanism that makes the FairTax progressive in practice by ensuring that spending at poverty levels is effectively untaxed. To counter concerns about elderly savers, small businesses, and retirees, the narrative offers examples of how previously taxed earnings and current wages would be sheltered. On revenue and enforcement, the authors stress the tax's visibility and point-of-sale collection as deterrents to evasion and as a basis for predictable revenue streams.

Political Strategy and Public Appeal
The book functions as both exposition and recruitment, detailing legislative efforts and grassroots organizing required to advance the idea. Coauthor Linder's legislative role and the presence of public polling and anecdotal evidence are used to argue that the FairTax can gain traction across partisan lines. Messaging emphasizes personal freedom, smaller government, and relief from an opaque bureaucratic system, aiming to appeal to taxpayers frustrated with complexity and perceived intrusiveness of the IRS.

Reception and Critique
The FairTax Book galvanized supporters who favor market-oriented tax reform and limited government, while critics from across the political spectrum raised substantive objections about the true revenue implications, potential for increased consumer prices, administrative challenges, and the political feasibility of eliminating entrenched tax structures. Economists debated the magnitude of behavioral responses and whether the prebate and other design features fully address distributional concerns. The book's strength lies in clear advocacy and accessible explanation; its limits lie in the contested empirical assumptions that undergird the most optimistic projections.

Conclusion
The narrative presents the FairTax as a bold, principled alternative to a system the authors describe as unfair and economically harmful. By combining policy detail with campaigning rhetoric, the book aims to shift public debate from incremental reform to wholesale replacement, inviting readers to weigh claims of simplicity, growth, and freedom against unresolved technical and political questions.