I'm not sure how you can draw any conclusions from that data. The fact that tax to GDP ratios in OECD countries vary anywhere from around 17% to 48% suggests t

I'm not sure how you can draw any conclusions from that data. The fact that tax to GDP ratios in OECD countries vary anywhere from around 17% to 48% suggests that different tax policies can alter a country's tax take: http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/taxrevenuesstabiliseinoecdcountriesin2010.htm http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/taxrevenuesstabiliseinoecdcount... Taxing 'bad things' is fine, assuming the author means taxing activities that generate negative externalities (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigovian_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigovian_tax). However I doubt that would raise sufficient revenue for a UBI. Most likely you'd have to levy taxes on large, immobile tax bases like consumption and land. Worth noting the cost of a UBI isn't completely additive. In the most extreme form, the cost is partially offset by the abolition of unemployment welfare payments and administration, tax free thresholds, earned income tax credits etc.