House Republicans are considering legislation to enact the “Fair Tax.” This would replace federal personal income, corporate income, payroll, and estate and gift taxes with a national retail sales tax. The proposal would also create a “family consumption allowance” – a type of universal basic income – and eliminate the IRS. This analysis finds that the Fair Tax proposal would greatly expand the deficit or require a tax rate of at least 50 percent on purchases – far higher than what the bill proposes – when factoring in how much revenue it would raise and the potential for tax avoidance and evasion.