flipper wrote:


In Australia, there used to be a sales tax, on sales. Then they changed
it
to a "goods and services tax" which also applied to services. The tax on
sales went down from 22% to 10% I believe, whereas the tax on repair
services went from 0% to 10% as far as I know. In both cases I am not
mentioning the income tax and indirect taxes that also apply. The
government did have some freedom to change the relative tax cost of
manufacturing and repair, and they changed it, in the direction that
discouraged repair.

If you had some data indicating there was a flourishing 'repair'
industry that vanished overnight when taxed the same as everything
else then you might have a point but, IMO, you're tilting at windmills
trying to achieve your 'real' goal of 'reviving' a service that is
just plain not economical in light of replacement costs.

I think that tax was only a small factor. A much more important factor is
the difference in the wages paid in different countries. I think that in
the long term, this wage disparity will be difficult to maintain,
especially after the point when our standard of education is overtaken.

I take it you consider the 'and services' tax to be 'unfair'
Not more unfair than tax in general, just that it creates undesirable
incentives.

but that
gets back to my original comment about what makes 'repair' labor so
special vs the labor of making the things to begin with?
Nothing other than which country it happens in.

Btw, where does it stop? I mean, if the 'repair' industry is worthy of
special consideration then surely there are other industries/products
that we can manipulate taxes to either encourage or discourage and
induce that pesky rabble called the 'public' to do what we want.

Chucking a $40 microwave oven because the light bulb has blown would almost
certainly be the economically cheaper option for the average householder
who isn't confident taking a screwdriver to the relevant cover. Obviously
if wages were the same in the country where the consumer lives and country
where the microwave oven was built, then (a) we wouldn't have $40 microwave
ovens and (b) it would be cheaper to pay someone to replace the light bulb
than buy a new microwave oven. I would not propose any intervention that
goes so far as to preserve any industries that would not be worthwhile if
wages all over the world were similar.

Chris