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You raise good points, and I am not fundamentally against taxes. I believe they are an extremely important part of society. That said (and this may be unique t

by tax123 6y ago

You raise good points, and I am not fundamentally against taxes. I believe they are an extremely important part of society. That said (and this may be unique to me), I am a 1 employee corporation and I still work 15hour+ days. If they keep taking a larger and larger cut, I'm simply going to start working less (and therefore earning less), and I feel like it won't have the impact on tax revenues they are hoping for. I do however understand that my situation is maybe not "normal".

gmac 6y ago
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. It's interesting that you mention that higher taxation might lead you to work less hard. In general, it's possible that this would be a good thing for everybody. You'd get more time for relaxation and other interests. At the same time, everyone else would experience less envy. I appreciate that this may sound weird. However, there's evidence that people are much more rivalrous about income and consumption than they are about their leisure time. In the extreme, if people cared only about relative income (i.e. rank), then earning more money would be wholly zero-sum. In reality, of course, people care partly about relative and partly about absolute income. But that still implies that the socially optimal income tax is non-zero, since that encourages more (non-rivalrous) leisure at the expense of (rivalrous) consumption. The economist Richard Layard has made this argument more formally [1]. [1] e.g. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/208274889.pdf https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/208274889.pdf
- tax123 6y ago
  Your points are valid, and I tend to actually agree with them. I think you have to consider a longer term outlook however to really piece this all together. I would absolutely prefer more leisure time in my life right now, the grind is real. However I also have the ability to earn large amounts of money relatively "easy" right now, and that may not be the case in the future. I think striking while the iron is hot is wise, and will then financially land me in a position whereby I will have more leisure time for the rest of my life, along with being able to provide my family with the same. My entire upcoming move to Monaco is basically centered around this belief. I am 99% sure I am going to prefer living in London where I currently reside, over Monaco. That said, but just living in Monaco for 5 years, it will put me in a much better position for the next 50 years of my life. Once I feel I am in that comfortable position, I can choose to reside where I wish almost anywhere in the world, and in theory be the happiest version of my self, regardless of the tax laws where I reside.

by tax123 6y ago

gmac 6y ago

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. It's interesting that you mention that higher taxation might lead you to work less hard. In general, it's possible that this would be a good thing for everybody. You'd get more time for relaxation and other interests. At the same time, everyone else would experience less envy. I appreciate that this may sound weird. However, there's evidence that people are much more rivalrous about income and consumption than they are about their leisure time. In the extreme, if people cared only about relative income (i.e. rank), then earning more money would be wholly zero-sum. In reality, of course, people care partly about relative and partly about absolute income. But that still implies that the socially optimal income tax is non-zero, since that encourages more (non-rivalrous) leisure at the expense of (rivalrous) consumption. The economist Richard Layard has made this argument more formally [1]. [1] e.g. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/208274889.pdf https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/208274889.pdf

tax123 6y ago
Your points are valid, and I tend to actually agree with them. I think you have to consider a longer term outlook however to really piece this all together. I would absolutely prefer more leisure time in my life right now, the grind is real. However I also have the ability to earn large amounts of money relatively "easy" right now, and that may not be the case in the future. I think striking while the iron is hot is wise, and will then financially land me in a position whereby I will have more leisure time for the rest of my life, along with being able to provide my family with the same. My entire upcoming move to Monaco is basically centered around this belief. I am 99% sure I am going to prefer living in London where I currently reside, over Monaco. That said, but just living in Monaco for 5 years, it will put me in a much better position for the next 50 years of my life. Once I feel I am in that comfortable position, I can choose to reside where I wish almost anywhere in the world, and in theory be the happiest version of my self, regardless of the tax laws where I reside.