http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/22/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

Very short extract -- read the article please before commenting

With reform recommendations from a presidential panel due by July 31,
the betting is that at least one of the proposals would move the United
States closer to a model that started in France decades ago, spread
across Europe and is now used by more than 120 countries, including
Singapore, Canada, Japan and Australia.

The model? A hybrid tax code with two key components: a tax on income
and a type of sales tax commonly known as a value-added tax.

"My guess is the panel is playing with a couple of different ideas,"
said Clint Stretch, the director of tax policy at Deloitte Tax, a unit
of the accounting giant Deloitte & Touche. "One is some...reform of the
current income tax system and the second is a value-added tax."



It just might work -- my only fear is that the congress never wants to
give up a tax.