Out of all the taxes our government imposes on its citizens, the sales tax is the fairest and not regressive at all. The only reason this tax is not regressive is because it does not apply to basic items that humans need to survive. While the United States of America has no federal sales tax, individual States are free to enact sales taxes. Currently the State of New Jersey may have its sales tax lowered from 7% to 6.875% in 2017 and then to 6.625% in 2018. A tax that only applies to luxury items and not necessities, is not an unfair tax on the poor. So if any tax should be lowered, it should not be the non-regressive tax on the poor.
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Rowan Counterintuitive 
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Your first sentence is almost perfect, PhillyFan, except that “not regressive at all” comes out of nowhere. Readers may not be as aware as you are that “It’ regressive” is a common criticism of the sales tax, so you should tell them.
Regarding your second sentence, why “the ONLY reason”?
A better argument than “sales tax exempts basic necessities” would be to find taxes on necessities. Can anybody thrive in modern society without buying gas for a car? Gas is heavily taxed, but nobody complains that it’s “regressive.”
I guess it’s important to mention that States, not the Federal Government, impose sales taxes, but don’t waste that fact if you do mention it. Say it while you’re comparing New Jersey’s sales tax rate to the rates of other states, higher or lower depending on what you want to prove.
Don’t wait to make an argument with this fact. You lay it out there, but we don’t know what to do with it. Every sentence should contain its argument. In this case, something like:
Read that again out loud. You REALLY don’t want to call it “a tax on the poor.” You have to separate those terms. The sales tax is “a tax that doesn’t unfairly tax the poor,” for example.
Sound good? Reply please.
Grade: S
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