Proponents of a national sales tax have suggested that substituting a national sales tax for the income tax would result in many positive benefits. Such a tax would result in doing away with complicated tax forms, and (some proponents suggest) with the Internal Revenue Service. It would be easier to collect, and, therefore, would result in less cheating. It would also give taxpayers a greater sense of control over the tax, since by their purchases they would determine when the tax would be imposed.

Despite these arrangements, and the endorsement of local and national political candidates of the idea, the national sales tax has never caught on. Opponents of the idea suggest it has fatal flaws. For example, the tax would have to be too high to make up for the loss of income tax; it would be regressive unlike the income tax, which is currently administered in a progressive way; and the exemptions and exceptions that would be granted would make it just as difficult and complicated to administer as the income tax.