Posted by Ray Kidder on 11/8/2008, 6:36 pm, in reply to "Re: Sales taxes vs Income taxes"
71.178.37.140
Don,
Thanks for your explanation. I have heard arguments that sales taxes can gring in enough tax revenue, and I suspect that you are right that I have not considered the big purchases by rich people.
You wrote:
"Any time that one works, he produces some good for his fellow man. Isn't it wrong for a government to discourage good by taxing it? Speeding in one's auto is taxed to a quite small amount but it discourages people from driving fast."
Even if the tax revenue is mostly from sales taxes, aren't you still taxing what is produced for useful purposes? If a car is produced and taxed, whether it be a basic or luxury car, it can be argued that the production of such a car was done by a company for the benefit of its customers.
If taxation is done accoding to one's consumption of government services, we would have taxes the way people are generally charged for their home owner's association. Each of the 53 houses in my homeowner's association is charged about $40 per omonth for trash removal, common area maintenance, snow removal, and enforcement of community rules. This is an example of taxation where everyone pays the same amount of money. I think most everyone would hate this sort of tax system since the poor would not be able to pay their taxes, while the rich would have lots of money to spare. The rich would feel sorry for the poor such that they would prefer a tax increase on themselves in order to avoid the problems of poor beggars who cannot pay their bills because their taxes are too high. I do not see how a gaduated sales tax can occur, but a graduated income tax can be (and is currently) mathematically computed.
You might be thinking of the role of private sector not-for-profit organizations to transfer the wealth from the rich to the poor. This would likely occur, but I would think that many of the rich who contribute a lot would feel cheated by the rich who contribute little. This might create too much social strife, or it may promote a better sense of ethics. Any ideas?
Ray Kidder
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