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Maybe income tax is just a bad idea? Bad for humans, that is, not for maximizing government power. The U.S. got along without it for a long time, and economists
by abecedarius 11y ago
Maybe income tax is just a bad idea? Bad for humans, that is, not for maximizing government power. The U.S. got along without it for a long time, and economists have argued for other bases like a land-value tax or consumption taxes. I dunno, myself; it's not like I get to choose.
- coltonv 11y agoUnfortunately there is no perfect solution for taxes. Governments need funds to provide the things that government needs to provide in the modern world. Can't do tariffs, those are bad for trade and bad for the economy. Consumption tax is hard because it encourages people not to spend money, which is bad for the economy. Income tax is bad because it makes income (and thus hard work and productivity to the economy) less valuable. Overall, income tax is something that works with some pitfalls, and better solutions are actually surprisingly hard. In the end taxes are necessary but difficult to do right.
- abecedarius 11y agoRepeating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax as it was my main suggestion and the one you left out. But the bigger problem is that even if a simpler and less distortionary tax system were adopted, governments if permitted to will just gradually add all the other kinds of taxes on top, purporting to need to in this modern world.