Keep in mind that sales tax is only regressive if it assumes a poor person pays a higher percentage of their income in taxes than a rich one, and a progressive vice-versa. On paper sales tax is neither, as everyone spends all their money eventually and pays the same rate on it, and you can even tax savings by treating 'money storage' as a product/service you buy, but you can make it progressive by just exempting certain basic necessities as exempt and certain clear luxuries at a higher rate. Not that I'm a huge national sales tax fan, but it has possibilities and can be made progressive.