(Original Post)
December 6th, 2010
The Osgood File. Sponsored in part by Taxmasters. The IRS has stepped up its collections efforts - now it's even more likely you'll need Taxmasters. This is Charles Osgood.
What are we going to do about Uncle Sam? He's a dear old guy - we love him. But the older he gets - or I should say, the older we get - the more he spends over what he takes in.
According to the National Debt Clock, he now owes more than 13.8 trillion dollars - it's going up by the second.
If every American shared a piece of that, we could get rid of the debt by having each man, woman and child in the country send him $44,000 and change. But that's not going to happen.
And so, as Prof. Michael Graetz of Columbia Law School puts it...
SOT - Prof. Michael Graetz, Columbia University Law School
"And so we have to either raise taxes on income or raise taxes on something else in order to finance the deficit." (:08)
A something else called "VAT" - after this...
((( SPOT )))
The VAT --- value-added tax --- is used by 150 countries around the world.
It's a kind of national sales tax, imposed by the government at each stage of production, passed on to anybody who buys anything - goods or services.
Professor Graetz says...
SOT - Prof. Michael Graetz
"Countries that have value added taxes and lower income taxes will do better in terms of attracting investment and promoting jobs..." (:09)
Or that's the theory anyway. Our CBS News colleague Seth Doane says there are many kinds of VAT to choose from.
VO - Seth Doane, CBS News Correspondent
"One choice is to consider adding a sort of Federal VAT on top of state sales taxes as a tool to fight debt." (:08)
In Britain, the VAT is going to go up from 17-and-a-half percent to 20% in the new year.
Let's find out how Christmas shoppers in London feel about it...
SOT - Karen Stubbs, a shopper in London
"It's not a good thing, and it affects everyday items...."
VO - Seth Doane
"London cabbie Gary Zylberzsac - who pays VAT on everything, from gas to his taxi rental - has a warning for Americans."
SOT - Gary Zylberszac, cab driver in London
"Look out, you're going to be paying a lot more for everything that you buy." (:14)
Bob McInytre directs a group in this country called "Citizens for Tax Justice."
SOT - Bob McInytre, director of the group Citizens for Tax Justice
"The idea of having a national sales tax comes up periodically - and is always shot down after people realize just how unfair it is..." (:09)
Don't tax you, don't tax me -
tax the fellow behind the tree.
And when it comes to the VAT,
behind the tree ... is you and me.
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. December 6th, 2010.