Taxation is a dirty word
In an age when governments find it acceptable to spy on their own people, in an effort to “manage” them all better, taxation now ranks as a suppressive tool. It is a suppressive tool of the ruling class because the right to tax is abused extensively, with little real regard for a budgeted approach to life. When governments run short, because of some unforeseen event, or more likely a lack of appropriate fiscal planning, then they borrow. Later, the taxes go up to pay for that borrowing.
Few of us currently trust our governments to be totally honest, but if it runs at 40%, then that’s good, yet we doubt them more and more. The motives behind much of what they do often is hidden, for the excuses they provide for more legislation is often vague, and without substance to the average person, and we doubt that they even believe their own half-truths.
Taxation has moved away from just being a way of funding the state, until it is now used to control the way we behave. There are schemes on the book to tax us for driving on motorways. The intended charges will not be paltry, for the motorist will be expected to pay for the cost of the satellite behind this technology. In any case, the motorist loses out, because he is now monitored on his journies, he pays again, expensively, to use the roads he has paid for many times over, and on top of that, he will have to limit the amount of driving he does or he will literally bankrupt himself with the cost.
Personal taxation is to blame - all taxes should be very un-personal, that way, you only pay for what you truly want and can afford.
Most of us feel aggrieved at the way we are taxed to the hilt and then see that money poured down the drain, and this happens all too often. I will link here to an article that will convince some of the sceptics that it isn’t OK for those in power to imagine they are there to serve themselves to the huge benefits our taxation provides, rather they are there to be our humble servants. It is time some of those in government actually understood that.
Take a look at THIS, for more reasons to dislike taxation.
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Written by spaman · Filed Under Economics
@ May 15, 2008
Seed Newsvine
Welcome aboard spaman! We will all benefit from your insights on taxation and Big Government I am sure….
Thanks E.D. - You have quite a journal here …
Look forward to learning and writing here
What would the best form of taxation be in your opinion? How do you make a tax “un-personal” as it is persons who must pay this tax. I am curious as to what basis of taxation you would advocate.
OK.
Taxation as I say is too often used to control people, and can be used as a punishment.
I would take the personal out of it by moving all personal taxation to purchases - in other words, you would buy what you could afford. Certain items like food could have a low rating while other items would attract a larger rate.
If you look at how many people are employed in the tax industry, just simplifying tax in this way would wipe out countless non-jobs, and save taxpayers a small fortune, but also every company that has to employ tax specialists.
Taxation is far too complicated, and this makes our lives complicated. I want a system that is fair and doesn’t penalise.
“Taxation is far too complicated, and this makes our lives complicated. I want a system that is fair and doesn’t penalise.”
Absolutely. It’s high time to implement the Fair Tax. The tax code, the way we are penalized for our success rather than for our consumption, etc. this is a problem. It’s a huge burden on both the economy at large, as well as on every day people. A national sales tax would certainly help even the field, and boost the economy….
I know there is some support for this type of a move, but where is the bulk of the resistance? CPA’s are a minority that is not catered to, and I would think corporations would prefer a national sales tax, so who is standing in the way of this progress and simplification? Currently many businesses have a duty of collecting sales tax anyway, so the administrative burden is already present.
Actually, I believe the bulk of the resistance is with big government and their big spending ways
I just finished reading both of the Fair Tax books. I really believe that the Fair Tax would revolutionize America and change the economy dramatically. While, there are literally dozens of huge benefits to the Fair Tax, the largest ones are:
1. Stimulation of the economy
2. An understandable tax policy
3. Transparency of how much we are actually taxed
4. Saving programs like Medicare and Social Security
5. Elimination of the underground economy (cash businesses that don’t pay tax)
6. Financial privacy from the government
7. Eliminating the government using taxation as a suppressive/control tool
The bulk of the resistance is from Washington and lobbyists. Implementing the Fair Tax would take the power out of Washington to implement tax breaks for certain interest groups in order to “buy” votes. Right now, a huge benefit for elected leaders is to manipulate the tax code to keep themselves in office. Plus, implementing the Fair Tax would eliminate thousands of lobbyist jobs.
When the whole atmosphere of Washington is surrounded with people who have a vested interest in the status quo, it becomes very hard to change. However, if there is a big enough demand by the people of this country, it will happen.
The Fair Tax also has economic ignorance working against it. It is too easy to demagogue and people don’t understand that a tax on Exxon Mobil is actually a tax on us….we just pay for their tax at the gas pump (i.e. stealth tax). Once people are educated, the Fair Tax makes sense and will actually give us much more freedom.
Some excellent points Conservemus … absolutely agree with you it is time for the public to start making some demands to make things happen, including sanity in our taxation affairs….
You really ought to expand on the above and make it a full article on this journal, it would add a lot of common sense to the debate to have the mechainisms of fair tax explained as well as the above beneficial details.
I’m all for more sanity in my life, and fair tax has to be a step in that direction…. but first we have to trim the budgets and the waste…Thanks for sharing that…
As explained to me, the purpose of the tax system is not just a mechanism of raising revenue for the government, but a tool for the government to encourage social goods and discourage social evils (as defined by the government).
Thus the government will resist a system of taxation that gives them no control over the behavior of individuals or companies. It may also temporarily hamper the economy as people save and resist impulsive spending (as spending would be the driver of incurring taxation). After adjustment, I believe the economy would be healthier than before and less prone to bubbles as the citizens lessen their reliance on credit.
Conservemus–
I agree with spaman’s idea: you should expand your comment into a full-blown article for the Journal. Also, spaman, thanks for your latest piece on taxation. These are some of the clearest arguments I’ve read regarding taxation and its use as an oppressive force by the government.
Thanks to both of you for your contributions here. The site is really starting to come alive!
Cheers!
E.D. Kain
Several criticisims of the fair tax:
1: Drives luxury (high tax) consuming overseas
2: Encourages a black market, which would encourage increased governmental oversight of transactions, as well as bank accounts, credit cards etc.
3: Is more efficient, and therefore likely to net increased funds for the gov’t. This is always bad, as they will spend it if they have it. Efficient taxes grow the government.
4: Would not actually prevent the gov’t from trying to execute social engineering with taxation (they could still charge higher taxes on bacon than on tofu, should they so wish)
5: Would discourage tourisim, a major US industry.
Responses:
1. The argument is that the tax is built into the price anyway, so the fair tax price and the income tax price should be equivalent, how does this drive away spending?
2. That black market already exists with regard to evasion of state sales taxes, employment taxes, and reporting of income (the cash market - reporting of income would be eliminated from this with the fair tax)
3. The goal is a specific revenue target, not a rate target. The rate should be adjusted to deliver the necessary revenue for the government’s operations.
4. This exists anyway in the form of excise taxes (sin taxes)
5. As in 1, prices should remain level at the end consumer (if the theory holds)