Texas is encountering problems with having a property tax. Confiscatory taxes breed power and corruption.
This article promotes an organization in Texas working to eliminate their property tax. We are not promoting this organization. Nevertheless, they make sound moral arguments against the Texas property tax. Read here and enjoy!
For the rest of the straight scoop,
see our EPIC Option Made Simple.
One critic claims that we do not include a rate in our proposal. While it is imprudent to include a rate in a constitutional amendment, our proposal LR 264 CA, we most certainly do include a rate in our implementation bill, LB 133. It was computed by the nationally recognized Beacon Hill Institute, using a "static" analysis. That means it did not take into account dynamic effects like changes in behavior because of the new policy. The rate included in LB 133 is 10.64%. That is nowhere near the rate claimed by The Open Sky Institute of "at least 20%", quoting the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That is a very imprecise number!
The good news is that we have commissioned a more sophisticated study from the Beacon Hill Institute, called a dynamic study, which does take into account the behavioral changes brought about by this change. We are in the process of updating the study again since we have moved to excluding groceries instead of our prior plan. We expect a rate of under 8%! When the study is completed, we will inform you of that new rate.
A fluid economy is hard to tax if taxation heavily focuses on income and property. If you really want to get a sense of how crypto currency and taxes come together, listen to investor Jaspreet Singh. (Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan)
Singh explains in this video how the pandemic has changed our economy forever. The ideas of “home” and “place” are changing in the new fluid economy and crypto currencies plays a role. By the way, his religion is Sikh and he is from India and resides in Detroit. See video below:
Tax expert, Daniel J. PIlla's latest article for National Review reveals how not everything you hear in the news is accurate, even when coming from the lips of the president of the United States. Mr. Pilla toured Nebraska in January for the EPIC Tax, explaining his Ten Principles of Taxation and how the EPIC Tax is the bet overall tax system for Nebraska. His principles include Visibility, Transparency, Efficiency, and more. If you missed the tour, you may find videos on our Pilla Tour page.
Thanks to everyone who testified at the hearing Thursday, February 3, 2022! Thanks also to those who submitted written testimony that was read into the record for LR 264 CA, as well as to those who wrote key state senatord on the Revenue Committee!
The committee now is deliberating with our input. It is clear that we had 31 ordinary Nebraska citizens there just trying to hang onto their own property. Against us were nine paid lobbyists defending their interest in the status quo. Not one of them showed any concern of real Nebraska taxpayers or of property rights.
We are fortunate to have supporters such as you! WE will keep you posted on any changes. The Committee members have heard us, and they now may deliberate with complete input from us, addressing some misinformation they received from the naysayers.
Now we need to turn our attention to the next step! We need to concern ourselves with friends, family, and neighbors that are suffering just as much as we are under this confiscatory tax system. Please tell them:
To accomplish the former (#1) have them come to this website and click here to compute their own EPIC savings. They can come back and help us explain why we all need this to pass!
They also, (#2) may view a video of Dan Pilla's presentation here in Nebraska on his Ten Principles of Taxation. There are several copies on our Dan Pilla Nebraska Tour Page. Once they understand the principles of taxation, they will wonder how they ever put up with the old, broken system!
We have worked with economic luminaries and Steve Moore of the Heritage Foundation and Dr Art Laffer. We are bringing tax expert, Dan Pilla to Nebraska next month. Nine states currently have no income tax and more are preparing to join this group that Steve Moore calls the "prosperity states". Newt Gingrich praises Sen. David Perdue for promoting the concept in his home state of Georgia in this article. Click on the picture to read about how you can benefit from Nebraska joining this group, bringing prosperity here.
We are in a series of video interviews that appear weekly on our website and on Facebook. There will be daily updates in our new Facebook Group explaining why these interviews are important for you,
Our plan recognizes taxpayer rights. They are built right into the legislation! It is so important that you understand how you are taxed makes a difference in your life and in your wallet.
Not all forms of taxation respect your rights. The Framers of our country's Constitution understood this reality. Most government officials have forgotten that these rights exist or that most current forms of taxation do not respect them.
This lack of understanding has poisoned our system of taxation by allowing governments to effectively steal your property! This is done through a form of taxation called "confiscatory" taxes. They include Nebraska's real estate tax, income taxes, and inheritance or estate taxes.
Sound pretty deep? It is! As long as you are ignorant, the government is free to steal your stuff. That is why we strongly encourage you to go to FaceBook and join our new group. That way you can get questions answered, make comments, and get the benefit of your peers as well.
Can't stand Facebook? Never fear. We now are on MeWe as well! (See below.) Also you will get weekly content on our website. As we get questions that are important, we will update the EPIC FAQ on our website as well.
Click on the logo at the right to go directly to our Facebook group. Click here for more information on how to register for Facebook if necessary and join our group.
But we never will give up fighting for your property rights! In the future we will share our updated EPIC strategy. We are on the map, but we need many more people to know not just about us, but to understand our proposal and how it restores their property rights and freedom of choice. We have many more people to educate and get on board.
We are retooling for 2024. You have a glimpse of what is in the works on this page. Expect more about our EPIC Option in the next few weeks.
It never has been clearer that our tax proposal has engendered a conflict between the interests of the state and its legislatures and the will of the people! We are thankful for the seventy Nebraska taxpayers (picture to the left) that came to LIncoln on their own dime to support Sen. Steve Erdman and the other cosponsors of LR 264 CA! We also are grateful for those cosponsors and other courageous senators who voted for the resolution!
The proposed EPIC Tax resolution is the only measure that gives Nebraskans their property rights back. Our state senators put their own desire to prognosticate and play politics ahead of principle. Our country was founded on property rights. The original draft of the Declaration of Independence delineated "certain unalienable rights" as including, "Life, Liberty, and Property". Those three rights still are memorialized for posterity in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Fifth Amendment specifies that "No person... shall be deprived of life, liberty or property".
How can that be with Nebraska's confiscatory taxes on property and income? If our state senators were thinking about that, it did not show in their voting. Of course many of them do think about it. However, their fear of the current system is not as great as the unknown. Sadly, many of them felt as if they were in the unknown because they had not done their homework. Sen. Erdman has done a yeoman's job of making materials available to them as well as his time for any questions or concerns they had. Debate started with solid momentum with Senator Erdman sharing a letter from the Attorney General stating that the EPIC constitutional amendment language did meet the single subject rule requirement to be placed on the ballot.
That statement fell on deaf ears as the senators asked questions that showed they hadn't taken this truly major tax reform seriously. We ended up with:
The scoreboard looked like this:
We needed 25 Yes votes to win this first round of debate called "General File". Please contact these 19 Senators and tell them THANK YOU for voting YES for EPIC Consumption Tax Reform:
These 14 Senators voted NO:
Please contact them and ask why they voted NO and blocked taxpayers from voting on this constitutional amendment.
These 13 Senators voted Present Not Voting (PNV):
Please contact them and ask why they stood on the sidelines and did not vote to support EPIC Consumption Tax Reform. A PNV vote has the same effect as a NO vote.
You may use this table to look up these state senators.
You may find your own state senator by clicking here.
The resolution to eliminate confiscatory taxes in Nebraska advanced out of the Revenue Committee on Thursday, February 24, 2022. The vote was five for — Senators Albrecht, Briese, Lindstrom, Linehan, and Pahls. Senators Bostar and Flood were absent. Senator Friesen was Present, Not Voting. At this writing, the first of three readings, General File, has not been scheduled. You may find the Committee Statement here.
“[EPIC Option] takes the boot off the throat of the economic engine that creates security for all the citizens of the state.”
— Daniel J. PIlla, tax-litigation specialist.