jbe - re: Gas taxes and socially-progressive economies. You should know first hand that almost all "socially-progressive" European countries purposefully use their forms of taxation to redistribute wealth. That is one of the tenets of socialism where it is not the absolute ruling entity - it must use whatever influence it has to assist its constituency to the greatest degree possible.
What I apparently failed to adequately point out, is that the affluent will spend their money on driving no matter how high the tax and no matter what the gas consumption of the car. They will, because they can, drive more miles in more expensive vehicles. They will also operate boats, airplanes, recreational vehicles, etc. Thus, they will spend more overall, and pay far more in taxes than the poor, who, if they own a car, drive very little in comparison.
Hence, in any such leveraged "progressive" tax system, the wealthy pay more (in total) and the excess goes to preclude the necessity of taxing the poor with some other tax. I call that "penalizing" the rich.
IMO, the only truly fair tax system is one that disregards the person it taxes. A flat income-tax is closer to fairness, but it misses far too much of the real income of so many that it is inherently unfair. The only reasonable tax system in a free economy is a flat tax on spending.
Mr. K. |
