So they'd be double taxed then. Except the small businesses would be the one's hurt more. Sounds like a terrible plan.

Oh, unless you're a printing company and buy a lot of paper. Or maybe your company is buying a lot of computers, or maybe you're a coffeeshop buying milk.

Simply saying "oh, stuff that a business would buy at Sam's Club doesn't make up for a lot of their expenses" is just ridiculous.

The way you're talking about it makes it more like a European style Value Added Tax. I rarely see conservative ideas trying to emulate Europe, but hey I guess there's always a first time!

I don't know much about the printing industry, but I assume they have contracts with paper suppliers and aren't going to Sam's Club to purchase their supplies.

Back in High School I worked in a kitchen, and we didn't go to traditional grocery stores or Sam's Club unless the boss miss ordered and we ran out of something. We ordered from wholesalers by the pallet. We were a pretty small operation too. I guess someone could make a fake business to order from a wholesaler, but they typically only sell to you if you are purchasing thousands of dollars of food weekly.

The Fair Tax is big among the Libertarian crowd, not necessarily big in conservative circles, but it isn't universally opposed either. I really don't understand the heavy opposition. Sales tax is collected in most states without serious issues. The Fair Tax simply uses the same model but on a Federal level.