Citizens for an Alternative Tax System (CATS) was a national
tax reform
Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxati ...
public interest group in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
active from 1990 until 2005. The organization's
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
chapter proposed "that Congress should eliminate the IRS and all income taxes, corporate and personal; estate, gift and inheritance taxes, plus many excise taxes; replacing them with a single-rate
tax on consumption—a national retail sales tax.
History
Citizens for an Alternative Tax System was founded in 1990 by
Scientologist Steven L. Hayes as a way to obsolete the
IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
. The project was covertly managed by Scientology's
Office of Special Affairs. Until 1993, when it gained tax-exempt status, the
Church of Scientology was in conflict with the IRS.
CATS claims to have expanded from nine local offices to over 300 chapters across the United States.
Its last
Form 990
Form 990 (officially, the "Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax") is a United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form that provides the public with information about a nonprofit organization. It is also used by government agencies t ...
was filed in 2005.
See also
*
Americans For Fair Taxation
*
FairTax
FairTax is a flat tax, fixed rate sales tax proposal introduced as bill H.R. 25 in the United States Congress every year since 2005. The ''Fair Tax Act'' calls for elimination of the Internal Revenue Service and repeal the Sixteenth Amendment ...
*
Tax status of Scientology in the United States
References
External links
Citizens for an Alternative Tax System(archived)
Scientology-related controversies
Taxpayer groups
Tax reform in the United States
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