Reforming the income tax solves revenue generation and avoids the link
Calvin H. Johnson 13, professor of law at the University of Texas. "We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ VAT" Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series Number 448 http://ssrn.com/abstract=22868018 //pipk
C. More Important Things to Do 1. Repair the income tax. Any revenue that could come from a new VAT would be better raised by repairing the income tax base. The income tax is not going away. A VAT, if at all cognizable by the political process, is cognizable only as a supplemental tax. European VATs, for instance, collect only just over one-sixth of total tax revenue.11 The United States would need to leave room for state sales taxes. It would also have to adopt a VAT in digestible increments. Because the income tax is going to be around, it must be fixed; indeed, fixing it makes more sense than implementing a VAT.
I help run the Shelf Project, which develops proposals to raise revenue by improving the fairness and efficiency of the income tax. I think we can raise a trillion dollars a year by adopting proposals, including those by the Shelf Project, that involve things we should do anyway.12 There is no need for a VAT on top of that. The income tax is in terrible shape. Hard-driving tax planners, an IRS just trying to follow the law and avoid trouble, and congressional lawmakers trying to get reelected have taken big chunks out of the income tax base. The real effective tax rate on various forms of capital is uneven.