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> The USA, UK, Scandinavia, Australia have embraced these kind of transparent and simple taxes, and their societies are much wealthier because of them. This is

> The USA, UK, Scandinavia, Australia have embraced these kind of transparent and simple taxes, and their societies are much wealthier because of them. This is nonsense. All of these states have complex and much higher rates of income tax than Serbia, plus consumption taxes. The UK tried a poll tax once and there were riots, up to a third of people refused to pay and it was one of the main reasons a Prime Minister of 11 years lost her job to someone who promised to replace it. And that was a relatively low one just to fund local services with a reduced rate for registered unemployed. Of all the potential income tax alternatives it is undoubtedly the worst. It makes far more sense to distribute the burden of paying for pensions according to current ability to afford it than to force people to pay money they don't have into a scheme which simply promises to give it back decades later if they're still alive.

ArkanExplorer 6y ago
VAT is just a poll tax by stealth. Instead of charging you directly, we will increase the price of all of the goods and services you consume, distorting and adding a huge bureaucratic layer to the economy as a result. Secondarily we will print money to finance Government spending, and you will 'pay' for it through inflation. Meanwhile the rich can avoid VAT by purchasing expensive personal electronics and cars through their companies and getting rebated, and see their asset portfolios increase in value thanks to the money printing. If the psychological element of paying poll taxes is too extreme, just replace them with land taxes with credits for each citizen living there and large credits for children under 16. At least you can link the payment to the consumption of a resource (housing) and penalty if you don't pay (confiscation or the application of a lien). Of course land value taxes are unpopular in European countries with a huge class of landed gentry...

ArkanExplorer 6y ago

VAT is just a poll tax by stealth. Instead of charging you directly, we will increase the price of all of the goods and services you consume, distorting and adding a huge bureaucratic layer to the economy as a result. Secondarily we will print money to finance Government spending, and you will 'pay' for it through inflation. Meanwhile the rich can avoid VAT by purchasing expensive personal electronics and cars through their companies and getting rebated, and see their asset portfolios increase in value thanks to the money printing. If the psychological element of paying poll taxes is too extreme, just replace them with land taxes with credits for each citizen living there and large credits for children under 16. At least you can link the payment to the consumption of a resource (housing) and penalty if you don't pay (confiscation or the application of a lien). Of course land value taxes are unpopular in European countries with a huge class of landed gentry...