>That is a fiction. Do the retail buyers forward a percentage of the
>purchase price to the tax office? If not, they aren't paying tax.
>The person who actually pays the tax pays the tax.
You serious? On most purchases I make in NYC, 8.25% is added to the price, which the merchant subsequently remits to the tax collector. There's a debate about who pays corporate taxes or VATs - probably a mix of capital and labor. The most reactionary states in the U.S. rely heavily on sales taxes because they know who pays them - the masses, and not capital. You rarely see business lobbying against sales taxes - but you see them lobbying against corp and personal income taxes all the time.
Doug