Is there any level of taxation that is evil or unjust
Tim, I don't know what you're looking for here. I slept on it thinking it would be clearer in the morning but it isn't. Are you talking about US marginal income tax rates? Or comparative forms of government? Or what?
I'll mention a few random thoughts that come to mind in response to your question and perhaps say something that will provoke the discussion you're looking for.
I would think that, in the abstract, a people could choose to be taxed at a near 100% rate if that's the way they want to live. If the group were so homogeneous that they all wanted to live the same way and have the same things, I don't see anything inherently evil in that. Having said that, I can't imagine them not leaving themselves at least a little pin money to express their individuality. And I don't think that kind of system, a collective, is viable over time because it goes against human nature, but that doesn't make it evil.
As for US marginal income tax rates, if that's your issue, I remember paying taxes at a time when the top US bracket was more than 70%. It may have even been 90%. My mind is fuzzy on that, but I recall thinking that the rate at that time was just plain wrong and I'm glad we don't do that any more. I have no basis for determining how much the tax rate would need to be lowered from 70% for it to cease being evil. My reaction is strictly a gut one. I don't think current marginal rates are evil, although I think they're too high.
On the flip side, I don't think anyone could consider a 10% tax rate evil. We should be willing to support society at some level. Taxes have been around forever. Lots of people voluntarily tithe at 10%. A 10% tax rate seems pretty innocuous to me. BTW, I mean 10% of gross income, not marginal rate. My gut reacts to my taxes as a function of gross income. To my gut, the marginal rate is an abstraction.
Personally, I don't start getting cranky about paying income tax until around 20%. Again, it's just a visceral reaction with absolutely no basis. I don't think there's anything evil about 20%, just that I don't like paying more than that.
I start associating the word, evil, with taxes more when we get away from income taxes and into property taxes. Income taxes bleed people. You recover from bleeding. Property taxes cut to the quick and seem confiscatory to me.
I hope I've said something remotely within the range of what you're looking for.
Karen |
