Bill Text: TX HCR79 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to abolish the current income based system of taxation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-20 - Referred to State & Federal Power & Responsibility, Select [HCR79 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR79-Introduced.html
| By: Stephenson | H.C.R. No. 79 | |
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| WHEREAS, History has demonstrated that the levying of income | ||
| taxes gives government too much power over citizens, and | ||
| accordingly, the nation's founding fathers did not impose a federal | ||
| income tax in the United States Constitution; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The nation's current income tax system, established | ||
| via the enactment of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States | ||
| Constitution, is unfair and inequitable, and it unnecessarily | ||
| intrudes on the privacy and civil rights of U.S. citizens; it | ||
| imposes unacceptable and needless administrative and compliance | ||
| costs on individuals and businesses, and it requires individuals to | ||
| prepare annual tax returns using many complicated forms, resulting | ||
| in unintentional errors that are severely punished; in addition, it | ||
| hides the true costs of government by embedding taxes in the costs | ||
| of everything that Americans buy; compliance does not occur at | ||
| adequate levels, which raises the tax burden on law-abiding | ||
| citizens; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Hindering economic growth, the current tax system | ||
| diminishes the standard of living, impedes the international | ||
| competitiveness of industry, and lowers productivity; it slows the | ||
| capital formation necessary for real wages to steadily increase and | ||
| reduces savings and investment by taxing the same income multiple | ||
| times; moreover, it penalizes marriage and impedes upward social | ||
| mobility; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Federal payroll taxes, including social security | ||
| and Medicare payroll taxes and self-employment taxes, destroy jobs | ||
| by raising employment costs; these taxes lead to higher rates of | ||
| unemployment and have a disproportionately adverse impact on | ||
| lower-income Americans; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Federal estate and gift taxes impose unacceptably | ||
| high tax-planning costs on family-owned businesses and farms, and | ||
| families are often forced to sell their holdings in order to pay | ||
| them; furthermore, these taxes discourage capital formation and | ||
| entrepreneurship, fostering the continued dominance of large | ||
| enterprises over small, family-owned companies and farms; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In The Federalist No.21 | ||
| , published in 1787, | ||
| Alexander Hamilton wrote: "It is a signal advantage of taxes on | ||
| articles of consumption, that they contain in their own nature a | ||
| security against excess"; a broad-based national sales tax on goods | ||
| and services purchased for final consumption would promote | ||
| fairness, economic growth, and savings and investment; it would | ||
| raise the standard of living and improve upward social mobility by | ||
| enhancing productivity and international competitiveness and by | ||
| reducing administrative burdens on the American taxpayer; at the | ||
| same time, a national sales tax would respect the privacy interests | ||
| and civil rights of taxpayers; such a tax would be similar in many | ||
| respects to the sales and use taxes that are now authorized in 45 of | ||
| the 50 states; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Most of the practical experience in administering | ||
| sales taxes is found at the state level; accordingly, a national | ||
| retail sales tax could be efficiently implemented by fostering | ||
| administration and collection of a federal sales tax at the state | ||
| level, in return for a reasonable administration fee paid to the | ||
| states; coordinating federal and state collection and enforcement | ||
| efforts to the maximum extent possible would further contribute to | ||
| the smooth transition to a national retail sales tax; while | ||
| businesses would incur costs in collecting and remitting taxes, | ||
| they would receive reasonable compensation for their efforts; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In every respect, a national retail sales tax is | ||
| more equitable and advantageous than the present system of relying | ||
| on income taxes; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby urge the Congress of the United States to abolish the current | ||
| income-based system of taxation, to enact a national retail sales | ||
| tax, and to propose and submit to the states for ratification the | ||
| repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States | ||
| Constitution; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
