A progressive corporation tax sounds fun in theory, but it isn't always so. It would effectively subsidise unprofitable start-ups which don't employ a lot of people, and penalise the salaries of working-class grunts who work for wall-mart.
The consumption tax exemptions, (from somebody who supports the general idea) are less simple than you think. Here are the current VAT rates for my country:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_Added_Tax_(United_Kingdom)#RatesHardly a less complicated system! In particular, you have a constant stream of lobbyists trying to reclassify their products as essential, and other such shenanigans. (Witness the debacle when the government tried to reclassify hot take-away as under the standard-rate, as opposed to cooled-down-heated-goods which would fall under the reduced rates. Or the legal dilemmas surrounding the Jaffa Cake - is it a cake (no VAT) or is it a chocolate-covered biscuit (standard rate, although biscuits
without chocolate do not pay VAT for some reason).
Tariffs are always bad.
The medical stuff sounds good from a left perspective, BUT it would hit a brick wall as effectively handing hospitals and clinics blank cheques would be a bad idea. You would have to dramatically increase oversight, maybe even quasi-nationalise them. That would increase the old worry of "government panels" picking and choosing who gets Lifesaving Treatment A.
What percentage of each tax would make up the government revenue? I assume with elimination of the income and payoll taxes, the bulk would be paid for by consumption tax, or perhaps more feasibly a VAT? as in that darn FairTax plan?
