DeSantis Maintains Strong Stance on Taxation, Embraces Proposed Legislation to Eliminate the IRS

By
Conservative Research Group
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Ron DeSantis, Republican candidate for president and Governor of Florida said that he would be in favor of a bill defunding the IRS. DeSantis said this to Dana Loesch the host of The Dana Show, and a Second Amendment supporter.

Loesch asked DeSantis about his position on federal taxation during the interview.

What would you do if Congress decided to defund the IRS? Would you sign such a bill on your desk? What would you do to replace it? Do you support a fair tax system? Do you support a flat tax? What do you think?

The Florida governor responded by criticizing IRS corruption and unfriendliness to Americans.

The answer is yes. I believe that the IRS is corrupt and it’s no friend to the average taxpayer or citizen. We need something completely different.

DeSantis then pointed to his support for alternative flat-rate systems and suggested that the current system should be scrapped in favor of a more favorable taxation system, telling Loesch that:

I have supported all the single-rate proposals. I believe they would all be a great improvement over the existing system. I would welcome throwing this tax system out of the window and replacing it with something more beneficial to the average person.

DeSantis criticized President Biden’s plan to fund 87,000 new IRS agents in August last year, claiming that it was disrespectful towards the public.

This has to be the most outrageous thing that Washington has ever done. It was a middle finger that the American people were giving me.

DeSantis noted at the time that the war on freelancers and independent contractors has evolved from state-level doomsday economic laws such as California’s AB5 into federal legislation and regulatory rulemaking. DeSantis’s comments on targeting freelancers were:

They’re going after independent contractors, small business owners, handymen, Uber drivers, and so on. Why would they do this? You won’t be able to deal with the audit. They’re going crush many people.

DeSantis was criticized by MAGA Inc. before he made his presidential announcement. They were critical of his support for the national sales tax he supported as a congressman between 2013 and 2018. Super PAC claimed DeSantis had supported a 23 percent tax increase on purchases. This is an untrue claim, as a sales tax would have eliminated other federal taxes including income tax, if it had been enacted. DeSantis has co-sponsored multiple times the Fair Tax Act in Congress, which was designed to reduce the tax burden overall and eliminate the IRS.

Bryan Griffin, Team DeSantis’ Press Secretary, stated the following last week:

The governor supported the Fair Tax concept in Congress. This was a plan that would lower the total tax burden for an individual by replacing federal taxes, including income tax, with a smaller tax. The plan sought to eliminate the IRS which was, at that time, being weaponized by Obama’s administration.

Griffin pointed out a tweet from Trump in 2019, explaining that Florida, a state friendly to taxpayers, would be his permanent home because New York’s high taxes and mistreatment of then-President Clinton had forced him out.

Never Back Down, a DeSantis PAC published a video earlier this month that showed Trump supporting the Fair Tax Policy during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Based on his record in Congress and support for abolishing the IRS and replacing it with a flat-rate system, Governor DeSantis has a strong position on taxation.