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So what’s the limit to taxes? Half the people in the country don’t pay any federal income tax.

Daishiman 9y ago
It makes sense to have the poorest not pay taxes when the marginal utility of every dollar they lose to taxes is so high and when the poor and middle class are the engines of consumerism. A dollar taxes to the top 1% that owns more than 50% of all assets, in contrast, loses far less from taxation.
- conanbatt 9y ago
  The problem with this line of argument is the moral base it stands on: pure utilitarianism. It stands on the idea that the tax is more effective to leevy and that it will produce less suffering (to the rich that pay it). But unfortunately, reality shows you the actual utilitarian application: the rich spend lots of resources to avoid, lobby and protect themselves from taxation, making it hard to grab and cause lot of apparent pain. But a sales tax on food, and a tax on income hits the poor, which can't defend themselves as well, and don't perceive the pain attributable to the tax. If your stance is that taxes should be utilitarian, you already have an application.
  - Daishiman 9y ago
    Well, given that the CEOs of the many multinationals who are benefited by the latest tax cuts in the US have explicitly said that they will not use the extra money for investments but rather just to increase profits, it stands to show that people will not necessarily engage in productive investments given more free capital unless absolutely necessary to compete, which is line with what some economists have mentioned on this.
    - conanbatt 9y ago
      If the government taxed that money away, maybe half of it would go to new military planes, so its not really that efficient either.
      - Daishiman 9y ago
        That is exclusively a problem with American conservatives that could be fixed when the populace realizes that they should be asking for the correct entitlement programs. For some reason this was never a point of debate 20 years ago.
        conanbatt 9y ago
        Increase of the military budget has been bipartisan, its the one thing that never stopped growing in decades budget-wise. Thats where money goes today, so if you raise taxes you have to take into account that the military will still eat a chunk of it. Its yet another argument of why raising taxes is not the solution to poverty.
georgeecollins 9y ago
That is only true for income tax, not payroll tax and sales tax.

It makes sense to have the poorest not pay taxes when the marginal utility of every dollar they lose to taxes is so high and when the poor and middle class are the engines of consumerism. A dollar taxes to the top 1% that owns more than 50% of all assets, in contrast, loses far less from taxation.

conanbatt 9y ago
The problem with this line of argument is the moral base it stands on: pure utilitarianism. It stands on the idea that the tax is more effective to leevy and that it will produce less suffering (to the rich that pay it). But unfortunately, reality shows you the actual utilitarian application: the rich spend lots of resources to avoid, lobby and protect themselves from taxation, making it hard to grab and cause lot of apparent pain. But a sales tax on food, and a tax on income hits the poor, which can't defend themselves as well, and don't perceive the pain attributable to the tax. If your stance is that taxes should be utilitarian, you already have an application.
- Daishiman 9y ago
  Well, given that the CEOs of the many multinationals who are benefited by the latest tax cuts in the US have explicitly said that they will not use the extra money for investments but rather just to increase profits, it stands to show that people will not necessarily engage in productive investments given more free capital unless absolutely necessary to compete, which is line with what some economists have mentioned on this.
  - conanbatt 9y ago
    If the government taxed that money away, maybe half of it would go to new military planes, so its not really that efficient either.
    - Daishiman 9y ago
      That is exclusively a problem with American conservatives that could be fixed when the populace realizes that they should be asking for the correct entitlement programs. For some reason this was never a point of debate 20 years ago.
      - conanbatt 9y ago
        Increase of the military budget has been bipartisan, its the one thing that never stopped growing in decades budget-wise. Thats where money goes today, so if you raise taxes you have to take into account that the military will still eat a chunk of it. Its yet another argument of why raising taxes is not the solution to poverty.

georgeecollins 9y ago

That is only true for income tax, not payroll tax and sales tax.