The Fairest Tax

How about entirely restructuring taxes in the United States? No more income tax or withholding or estate taxes, but a national sales tax of fifteen percent on every item sold, with a third of the revenue going each to the locality in which the transaction took place, a third to the state, and the remainder to the Federal government. If the majority of Americans feel food and medicine should not be taxed, then exclude those necessities and raise the rate to twenty-one cents of every remaining dollar spent with it divided the same way. Keep tariffs on foreign goods in place and use that collection to bolster national defense. People would obviously lose the ability to deduct a portion of their mortgages and 1031 exchanges would be a thing of the past, but the new method of taxation would be far more fair than the Federal government collecting the massive amounts it does now and then using returning money to states and cities over them to leverage their policies. People could regulate their spending if they wanted to pay less in taxes, giving them more control of their lives and futures. I would say a small percentage at the Federal level could be set aside to pay existing Social Security obligations, with that being phased out entirely over time as people would have better means to save for their own retirements and with investment in stocks no longer taxed, even with profits from sales as capital gains, the pool of investors in US stocks would rise tremendously, as would US stocks. You could continue to tax foreign stock transactions to encourage America's economic resurgence, and in so doing, along with tariffs on goods from abroad, bring the manufacturing economy back home. This plan would be good for everyone except venal politicians, who profit from rent-seekers now, tax attorneys, and accountants.  If implemented, America would be great again soon. Note- if an enemy attacks our nation, the rate of the national consumption tax could be adjusted to fit the need or the Federal government could take ten percent while state and local government could survive on their five, six, or seven percent until the US wins the war.