How does dragging an anchor affect the speed of a ship? Our entire economy is not dependent on the income tax. Instead our economy is held back by the income tax. There was no income tax for the first 124 years of our history – that’s more than half the time we have existed as a nation. Under the FairTax, within ten years, average Americans will be at least 10 percent and probably 15 percent better off than they would be under the current system. That translates to an increase of $3,000 to $4,500 per household, per year.