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> You'll see most economists advocating a consumption tax, instead. The problem with that is that it affects the poor more than the wealthy. Buying the same th
by stinkytaco 10y ago
> You'll see most economists advocating a consumption tax, instead.
The problem with that is that it affects the poor more than the wealthy. Buying the same thing will hurt one person much more than another and will do little to ease inequality, it may exacerbate it. Additionally, it puts us in the position of making judgments about what should and should not be taxed and how much.
> Corporations aren't people; they don't ever actually pay taxes. People pay taxes.
I would buy this if we didn't give corporations so many rights. Indeed, their purpose is tools to shield individuals. Sometimes this is good; if I create a corporation and my business fails, they cannot come after my personal assets and that encourages economic investment. But it can also be bad when the corporation becomes a place to hide my assets from taxation or even to avoid personal responsibility. They can engage in speech, litigate in court, and even get government benefits such as grants or funding. Because of this, we should tax them.
- baddox 10y agoAll proposed consumption tax plans I have seen explicitly address the regressiveness, usually with some sort of rebate.
- stale2002 10y agoNo they cannot engage in speech, because they do not have mouths. Only people have mouths. A corporation is not a person, it is a group of people. And those people are the ones who pay taxes and engage in speech. Corporations do not exist, outside of them being a representation for the owner behind them.
- humanrebar 10y agoGroups of people have the right to speak collectively.