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Universal Exchange Tax (UET) is a proposed baseline general revenue tax that removes a very low
percentage tax, likely between 0.01% and 0.05%, from every transaction
of value within an economic
arena. UET is a fundamental and equitable method of taxation ensuring
every citizen contributes based solely upon their level of economic
activity.
Please consider that three financial clearinghouses processed over $3.8 quadrillion in 2014. Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation handled $1.6 quadrillion, CHIPs, another processor of financial activity, settled over $547 trillion, and Fedwire, owned by the Federal Reserve Banks, processed over $1.28 quadrillion in funds and securities.
That's roughly $4 quadrillion dollars
in transactions cleared by only three processors. Factoring in all the
other clearinghouses, banks, credit unions, credit card companies, etc,
that handle the day to day business of America, it is apparent total financial activity in the US is easily in excess of five quadrillion dollars.
UET does not add to the amount of a
transaction, instead reducing the amount credited to the receiving
account. At a rate of 0.01%, a transfer of $100 nets one cent for the federal treasury, at no increased cost to
the payer. With a tax base of $5 quadrillion, a small assessment produces impressive sums of revenue...
One cent per $100, 0.01%, generates $500 billion.
Five cents per hundred dollars, 0.05%, yields $2.5 trillion, enough to fund well over half of the federal budget.
Implementing
UET will provide the platform for total tax reform, wherein other
targeted, percentage based assessments can be added as necessary to
achieve total funding. Social, medical, income, sales, and other
classifications of financial activity will likely be taxed based upon
separate factors and added to UET revenue.
It
is possible that UET will negatively affect some financial activities and
thus shrink the tax base. However, even if the totality of exchanges fell
fifty percent, revenues will remain in the hundreds of billions.
UET is cost effective, a simple accounting provision within the existing financial network.
UET is transparent and private, requiring only confirmation that an exchange is taxed.
Universal Exchange Tax is the only
truly fair method of taxation, linked solely to the movement of value.
No means test, no discrimination, no politics... The more you play,
the more you pay.
Transfers between closely held accounts of the same entity, between savings and checking for example, are exempt from UET assessment.
Under UET, any need to
adjust revenues is a matter of changing the percentage rate.
UET relieves the subject economy of the
expenses associated with tax compliance and avoidance. Compliance is transparent, affordable,
democratic, and automatic. Avoidance is difficult, unprofitable, and
impolitic.
It is likely that
transactions of value
for obfuscation of ownership, or those that are speculative in
nature, are negatively impacted by UET.
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