INCOME TAX??? The bane of mankind....to take the fruits of one's labor and redistribute to those "in need" is the worst of all mankind's deeds in the realm of bettering society.
Taxes, in general, are a necessary evil in a VERY LIMITED SENSE. They are evil, but the trick is to make them less so...Income taxes are the most egregious. "Sin" taxes are less so, since they are applied to behavior that is generally considered inhibiting of productive capacity (still, the taxes themselves limit the enjoyment this behavior supplies, so in that sense they are still wrong).
At any rate, it is hard to create a vision in which NO Government is necessary. To that end, SOME government is necessary, and must be funded somehow....
Taxing Income, or productive capacity, is clearly stupid. Seriously stupid. Taxing consumption is stupid, but less so. Taxing assets (land, stock) is stupid, too, but less so.
Why on consumption? Because if you look at history, most depression/recessions are a result of imbalances in spending on consumer behavior vs productive... so it is better to err in favor of productivity.
Why on assets? Because assets have intrinsic value associated, and have a GENERAL tendency to increase in value, therefore taxation (while still wrong) takes less of a bite. There is something of a Georgist philosophy here, although I abhor Georgism at its basic level - pure property tax. |
