Daniels Supports Value Added Tax, Oil Tax

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2012, clearly isn’t afraid of taking bold positions. At a dinner sponsored by the conservative Hudson Institute, which he once headed, Daniels voiced support for a value added tax (VAT) and a levy on oil imports, Politico reports.  VAT is a sales tax added at each level of a good’s production.

VAT and a flat income tax “might suit our current situation pretty well,” he said. “It also might fit [former Treasury Secretary] Bill Simon’s line in the late ‘70s that the nation should have a tax system that looks like someone designed it on purpose.”

As for oil, Daniels read approvingly from a book by the Hudson Institute’s Founder Herman Kahn: “One fully justifiable tax would be on imported oil. Any large importation of oil by the U.S. raises security problems.”