Analysis of Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Plan

According to analysis by the Citizens for Tax Justice, under presidential hopeful Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Plan, the richest one percent of taxpayers would each pay $210,000 less in annual taxes on average, while the poorest 60 percent of taxpayers would each pay about $2,000 more in annual taxes on average, than they do now.

Moreover, under the 9-9-9 plan, the United States government would collect about $340 billion less in revenue in 2011 alone.

9% Individual Flat Tax: The nine percent individual tax would apply to “gross income less charitable deductions” and would exempt capital gains. This individual tax would:
• generate much less revenue than the existing federal income and payroll taxes
• especially benefit the richest taxpayers, who currently pay effective tax rates much higher than nine percent and receive most capital gains
• result in a big tax increase on the poorest Americans, who would lose the benefit of existing tax breaks like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit

9% Business Flat Tax: The nine percent business tax would apply to a business’s “gross income less all investments, all purchases from other businesses and all dividends paid to shareholders.” As a result, it appears that there would be nothing left of a business’s revenue to tax other than the revenue going towards wages.

9% National Sales Tax: Cain’s plan would introduce, for the first time, a broad-based national sales tax, with a rate of nine percent. Replacing the remaining federal taxes (estate and gift taxes, tobacco taxes, gas taxes) with the nine percent sales tax will result in a tax increase for all income groups. This would be a national sales tax ON TOP OF each state's current state sales taxes. For instance, in Las Vegas, we have a sales tax of 8.1%. Added to Herman Cain's 9% national sales tax, most purchases would then have a 17.1% sales tax.

Many in political circles feel Herman Cain began his "presidential aspirations" as a way to raise his profile and perhaps get a FOX News TV show or a political radio show or a platform to sell his book and raise his "inspirational" speaking fees.  With reports out in the media world that he does not have a staff or network to actually see a presidential bid to it's conclusion, I'm inclined to believe that.  I think this has all taken Herman Cain off-guard that he's being taken "seriously."

Time will tell how the country takes him.

Read the entire analysis here.