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The fundamental problem with your argument is the assumption that government services are offered in exchange for tax in the same way that you pay for other goo
by leoedin 11y ago
The fundamental problem with your argument is the assumption that government services are offered in exchange for tax in the same way that you pay for other goods or services. They're not. The very nature of western society is that it doesn't offer value for money to the richest. This is by design. We've built progressive taxation systems as a way of redistributing wealth downwards, providing benefit to the whole of society rather than just the few with the most.
How many countries have you lived in? Why did you choose the place you live now? Presumably you have a spreadsheet somewhere with the tax to service ratio for all the countries you considered?
Well, maybe you do. Most people don't. Most people live in the country they were born in, or perhaps emigrate once to a country they perceive to have more opportunities (or family, or a more stable government). The only people who are shopping around for the cheapest tax regime are already exceptionally wealthy and looking to keep more of that wealth for themselves. They're not looking for any governmental services, just a way to stop paying for those that help other people.
Maybe that's OK for you if you're heartless sociopath. It's very easy to forget just how reliant we are on the hard work of other people, even those who earn far less than us.
- charlesdm 11y agoMost wealthy people who acquire their wealth (i.e. not inherit) have contributed by paying a ton of tax during the acquisition of that wealth. If it takes me five or ten years to build out a successful company, I will have paid: - Some corporate tax - Income tax (your director salary, your employees salaries) - Dividend taxes - Capital gains tax (when I sell the company) - Various other smaller levies And you will have created some jobs. When you sell the company, those jobs also usually won't seize to exist. In a way, you will have paid off your debt to society. If at that point, should you decide to move to some low tax country and live off of investment gains, what's wrong with that? Given (for example) a massive amount of US taxpayers dollars is spent on military and defence spending, I find it hypocritical to call people who actually want to keep their earned wealth "heartless sociopaths".