alt Hacker NewsEconomists argue that they are the fairest because they tax consumption rather than production.
Also everybody pays them, including people that avoid taxes (including criminal activities and tax evaders).
The argument against this is that lower income households pay more of it as a portion of their income thus the consensus is that to be fairest you need rebates and no taxes on many essentials (which is why often medicines or milk, bread etc have very low or no sales tax/rebates).
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It is a good point. It depends on how regressive is defined. There are many competing arguments here, but two I am aware of are
1. Regressive deals with % of income spent.
2. Regressive deals with an ideal state where those with more excess income contribute more than those with less.
In both of these, I suppose sales tax is regressive if it applies to all items, but only 2 is regressive with sophisticated rebates and untaxed categories.
> Economists argue that they are the fairest...
You keep saying this, as if it will make this true. Please list these "economists"/"most economists".
And it kills the economy and kills most small businesses. How is it fair to tax unprofitable businesses instead of a straight profit tax?