Spehro Pefhany wrote:

On Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:06:44 +0100, Chris Jones
wrote:

Chuck Harris wrote:

John Larkin wrote:



Income tax makes no sense. There should be only one tax, on
consumption, and it should be fully visible, as sales taxes are in the
US, not hidden like VAT.

John

Agreed, but the last thing the government would want is for you to be
constantly reminded of how far they have their hand into your pocket.

Imagine that instead of the 5 to 7% that most of us pay in state
sales/use
tax that it was, say, 29% I think that might be a bit of a shocker.

Also, taxes on consumption are by nature highly regressive. The poor
by pay a greater proportion of their income to buy consumables (like
food, clothes, transportation and shelter) than do the rich.... I'm not
saying that is necessarily a bad thing... but I think it would cause a
revolution.

-Chuck

What about tax sales at a somewhat higher rate than you were thinking of,
then give every citizen an equal sized lump sum every month, that is going
to be proportionately more for lower earners so will un-regresive it, or
instead, maybe not a lump sum but free health care or something...

That's better. Otherwise you have to prove you're low income, which
raises privacy issues. It would be really nice if one's income was
none of the government's business, as Libertarians would prefer,
although I don't expect to live to see that-- there are too many
vested interests in the present system.
I didn't intend for the money to be given only to people with low incomes,
since that is something that people will try to cheat. I suggested giving
the payment to everyone, then raise the percentage tax on purchases as
necessary.

I don't like taxes on services, it encourages the "throw-away society"
where the tax means it isn't worth fixing anything so there are no repair
shops with technicians who know how to fix things, just shops selling new
crap with knowledgeless sales droids, and it isn't worth knowing how to
fix anything so nobody bothers learning.

There's nothing wrong with a relatively small tax on services, however
it's the easiest one to cheat on if you're dealing with end consumers
who don't get exemptions. Things like home renovations.

Mostly services are better things to encourage than purchases, IMO. For
example many places the government has to pay for waste disposal out of
taxes, and encouraging repair as an alternative to replacement will tend to
reduce the expenditure on waste disposal as well as cutting down on imports
and resource consumption etc. Also when a service is provided, that
necessarily generates some employment in the same country, whereas
purchasing imported stuff may not. Those are some reasons why I don't like
taxing services.

Chris