Under our present income tax system, I would agree with Amendment 3. However, there is a movement to replace our complicated loophole-riddled income tax system with a simple no loophole sales tax -- the FairTax.

Amendment 3 will pre-empt the FairTax proposal by eliminating home sales from a sales tax. When we pass the FairTax, Amendment 3 would force the sales tax on everything else to be higher.

Items under the FairTax, including homes, are only taxed once, and they are only taxed when sold as a new home. The majority of home sales are used homes -- which would not be taxed. Under the FairTax, the cost of new homes will be less because the embedded income tax costs will be removed from the cost of building the home. Furthermore, you will be buying the home with untaxed money -- no income, Medicare or Social Security taxes will be taken out of your paycheck. The interest rate on your home loan will also be less under the FairTax.

The FairTax organization has spent millions having independent economists study the impact of the FairTax on all aspects of our economy -- including housing. There are three studies on real estate that can be found at www.fairtax.org.

The studies show the FairTax allows for faster savings for a new home, and it is more beneficial than the mortgage income deduction. The studies show the cost of buying a $153,800 house under our income tax system is $377,790 compared to $312,099 under the FairTax.

DAN DICKERSON, Jackson