The prebate sets the FAIRtax apart from every other sales tax people may be familiar with. In every other case, when you buy a taxable item, you pay the tax, period. However, the FAIRtax actually pays itself on spending up to the poverty level.

Every month, every legal household gets a pre-payment to cover the tax they’ll pay at the cash register on their spending up to the poverty level. You don’t take a dime out of your own pocket to pay the FAIRtax until after you’ve taken care of your family’s basic necessities. Compare that to the income tax where Uncle Sam skims his cut right off the top of your paycheck before you even see it.