yourtax.org (now fairtaxation.org)
Changing the Tax Reform Debate.
On June 5th and 6th, Tennesseans for Fair Taxation unveiled
a powerful new tool for providing accurate information about tax reform to Tennesseans
across the state — The Tax Reform Calculator, located on-line at fairtaxation.org!
With public demonstrations organized by members in five cities, the initial release
was widely covered on radio, television, and print media, including USA Today.
The Calculator is an interactive web site where people enter their
income, filing status, and number of dependents, then click a button to see
how tax reform will affect them. In the first 2 days, the web page received
3,500 ‘hits’, roughly one visitor every 40 seconds of waking hours.
Traffic is still strong four months later, with about 1,000 visitors a month
coming to the site.
Part of the success of the web site is its accuracy and credibility
as demonstrated in a Knoxville News-Sentinel article entitled "Calculator
gets experts’ approval." — "It was right on the money. I
did it manually and through the (Web) system and it was only different a few
dollars either way," states Scott Dotson, a CPA and president of the Knoxville
chapter of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants. "Overall,
it’s about as close as you can get to estimating how these tax plans will
affect your family," added Dotson in the News-Sentinel article.
The initial release in June was only the beginning. Since then,
TFT has purchased a number of used laptop computers so members can bring the
Calculator to fairs, workshops, and other community events. In addition to the
numerous workshops and radio call-in shows, hundreds of taxpayers were able
to use the Calculator at state fairs in Jackson, Nashville, Knoxville, and Oak
Ridge.
In the past three months, TFT has turned to the Calculator to
publicize its new proposal and inform the members of TFT’s many member
groups. Martha Wettemann, with the Tennessee State Employees Association, stated,
"It’s a good way for people to compare the plans… The people
I’ve talked to were impressed by how much they saved under the TFT Plan."
Karen Franklin with the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare added, "It
offers many of us who are part of a TFT member group an easy way to educate
our own members."
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